Greetings in Christ,
Many of us suffer from the four eye disease—having to wear glasses. Some of us can see far away, but not near, and some us can see near but not far away, and if you are like me, you have to deal with not being able to see near or far away.
I recently was fitted for new glasses. I went to a local optometrist for the first time for my new glasses. After receiving the new glasses I was having trouble seeing with them, and I was getting headaches as well. I went back to the optometrist who filled the prescription, and he reexamined me. He checked my glasses for the right prescription, and he gave me a reason for the problems I was having. My brain had to get used to the confusion it now had in order to work in conjunction with my new glasses.
This was confusing to me at first thinking this guy just went bonkers on me, or I was dealing with a quack because I had not dealt with him before this. After thinking about it for a while, I began to realize what he was talking about. My old glasses had been so deficient in not allowing me to see correctly I could not comprehend what it was like to see clearly.
In the selected readings, we read of those in the past who did not get corrected vision and those who did, and the difference it made in their lives.
Isaiah writes about how God was trying to get the people to remember past events where He showed His strength and power. “Was it not Thou who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a pathway for the redeemed to cross over?” God was trying to get the people to see Him for what He was—The Great and Powerful God who could do anything He said He would do. God wanted them to realize He was going to restore the people of Israel to be His people. He wanted them to know He was going to take care of them. They had to trust God to do what He said He was going to do despite what they were seeing or dealing with at their present time in captivity. God wanted them to get fitted with corrected spiritual glasses so they could see what He was doing.
John writes about the Jews not accepting Jesus as the Son of God. The Jews became enraged with Jesus thinking He was breaking the Jewish laws as He was teaching in the synagogue claiming to be the Son of God. They could not see what was really taking place. The Jews had a preconceived understanding the Son of God would adhere to the laws just as they had been written and abide by them accordingly. They were not expecting the Son of God to break the laws (according to their thinking) and do things differently. Jesus had the proper vision to see just what needed to take place and He observed the laws correctly. Jesus wanted them to see with corrected vision.
The Hebrew author pens the words about Abraham and Sarah doing what God had asked them to do. They pulled up stakes and moved all over the country side. They were promised to have many descendants. When they had their first child, Abraham was asked to sacrifice his own son Isaac. Abraham believed God would restore his son back to life after the sacrifice. Through all of the testing of their faith Abraham and Sarah never took their eyes off of what was ahead of them—the promise God was going to do what He said He was going to do. They had corrected vision so they could see just what God was going to do.
We are often challenged to see things here on earth and to interpret them for what they are. We too often are looking with improper corrected vision to see the things clearly for what they really are. We want to think we see correctly, but our brain is confused in what it sees. We have to be fitted with the corrected visual aid in order to get a clear understanding of what God is doing in our lives. God wants us to visit Him to get fitted with the proper visual aid to see clearly just what He is doing. We need to learn to lean on Him with our faith—glasses of faith. He gives us sight to see what He has in store for us.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” Psalms 24:1
“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11
Lord help us to see with the glasses of faith so we can see just how wonderful You are. Amen
Blessings,
Mark Johnson
Psalm 8, 24,29, 89; Isaiah 51:9-16; Hebrews 11:8-16; John 7:14-31