Sight

When we find ourselves in stressful situations or in the middle of life changing events, we can often learn things about our inner self . . . that is, if we take the time to look. This week I learned something about myself and about my relationship with God. Let's just say it's been "eye opening."

A few weeks ago I noticed some bright flashes of light in my left eye whenever I would blink or move my eye around. Weird. Then a few days later I noticed some red, swirling lines when I closed my eye. More weirdness.

Well, my mind tends to wander around on it's own. Perhaps that's why I like to write. Thoughts and ideas just feed off one another and the next thing I know I am thinking something totally wacko. In the situation of my eye sight I just noticed the flashes and the lines in my eye. Then I began wondering what was causing it. Somewhere along the line I began seeing these "floaters" in my eyes and my imagination start creating all kinds of possibilities.

My mother had eye problems, my grandmother did too. Perhaps it was my turn. I started imagining all the possible scenarios. How would I get to work if I was blind? How could I even DO my work? I couldn't! I was doomed to sit at home, blind, trying to remember what people's faces looked like.

How did I wind up there? My mind just wandered all over the place. But then I stopped to think. How would it be if I really WAS blind? What would I do? Am I prepared for that? Am I prepared for the unexpected in my life?

Nope.

We are never properly prepared for most of the situations we encounter in life. Otherwise they wouldn't BE "situations." But think about it. What would happen if you suddenly became blind for example? How would that affect your life? How would you pick out which clothes to wear in the morning? Your socks? Your shoes? Could any one earn a living doing anything who can't see what they are doing? How could one read The Bible? What would the point of "watching" television be? How could we do the things we do now without our sight?

Well, if that happened to me (which I have already thought long and hard about) there are some thing I could do. I could get a voice-recognition app on my phone. Voice-to-text would be needed. "Call Bev." or "Text Gayle." Same with the computer. Not sure how I'd operate the mouse though.

And how would I recognize people? By voice I guess. Would someone allow me to be so intimate with them that I could touch their face and feel what it "looks like"? Hmm.

As I thought about these things I began to appreciate what it must be like to be blind. Not to be able to see a sunset or the faces a baby makes. It would suck! But guess what. I would survive. My wife would help me pick out my clothes. She could turn the computer on and get things ready for "Blind Bob. "I could listen to God's Word. In all honesty, would I truly be lacking any of the things I truly needed?

I would still have my wife. I would still have my family. I would still have my friends. And, most importantly, I would still have Jesus. What else do I need?

Our eye sight is truly a wonderful gift from God. But like so many of the gifts we have received from Him already, we often take them for granted. Our health, our talents, so many different ways of "looking" at things.

If we would take the time to see things through God's eyes, if you will, what a wonderfully peaceful and compassionate place we would be living in!

There is one more thing I would like you to consider before I close. Read this passage from the Book of John and meditate on what Jesus says in verse three.

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." - John 9:1-3

Are we spiritually blind? Are we going though life expecting things to lay out wonderfully for each of us? That's not going to be the case. If we would look at this life as if we were blind, as if we only had the essentials given to us from above, how would we live our lives? Would we actually live so that "the works of God might be displayed" in us? Think about that this week. And may God give you new sight in seeing the world in which we live.