I got a new toy on Saturday – or, more precisely two. They are fantastic and I wish I’d got them sooner. They have given me a whole new perspective on the world, brightened up my days and made life a bit easier and probably safer too.
Many of you will already have these little visual delights and may have had them for years, perhaps most of your life in various forms. Others, like me, have only come to need them as time has gone on and our bodies and faculties have started to wear out.
I am talking about my new glasses, of course. I’ve got one pair for general use plus some prescription sunglasses. My prescription is mild, but they are genuinely amazing and have revolutionised my view of the world! Everything is much brighter, clearer and more vivid through them. It’s not that I couldn’t see before, just that the way I can see now is so much better, crisper, sharper. I never want to take them off! Except that now I can’t read things right in front of me, so I have to lift them up or peer over the top of them.
Just as physical lenses correct and enhance vision, so spiritual lenses shape how we view the world and navigate it. Using our spiritual lenses can brings greater awareness, improved perception and a more balanced perspective.
I’m short-sighted, which means I can see fine to read or use my phone, but things further away can be blurry or indistinct. We can suffer from this spiritually too – details around us are very clear but we’re missing the bigger picture. Maybe immediate worries cloud our overall vision and we need to regain focus and see the prize ahead.
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. (Ephesians 1:16-19)
Some people are long-sighted and need glasses to help them see what’s next to them. This, too, can be a spiritual affliction. Sometimes we’re so focused on future goals or planning ahead that we fail to see the needs that are right under our noses. Our spiritual lenses can bring greater empathy and help us see the micro as well as the macro.
My new glasses come with a case and a cleaning cloth. It’s important to be careful not to get finger marks or other dirt on the lenses or it can affect how and what you see, distorting it or giving you blind spots. Similarly, our spiritual vision occasionally needs refreshing and cleaning up. Sometimes what we think are distortions or blips in the world are actually that the way we’re looking at things has got tired and a bit dusty. Give your spiritual glasses a good clean from time to time – meditate, take time to pray, and find some verses that help bring back spiritual clarity and appreciation.
The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (Luke 6:22-23)
The Bible has lots more to say about sight. Jesus healed many who suffered from physical blindness as well as reaching out to those who were spiritually blind. We’re encouraged to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Cor 4:18). Take a look and see what else you can find!
Miriam
