Do My Eyes Deceive Me?

It is truly sobering to note how often in the Scripture, those called by God can miss out, because of a vision problem.

The children of Israel who witnessed God deliver them from slavery miraculously, missed out on entering the Promised Land because they preferred to see the land and its inhabitants as too big for them.

David saw a married woman that took his fancy and when he took that which didn’t belong to him and impregnated her, he only saw the need to cover up his actions. As a result he missed out on the possibility of a harmonious and peaceful household.

A prophet given clear instructions by God as to how to complete his mission, saw the advice of an older prophet as something preferable to follow that those instructions. He missed out on ever returning to his home again.

The crowds pursued Jesus as the political and military ruler to overthrow the rule of Rome. They sought the man who would give them more food to eat as He had miraculously provided for them before. They missed out on the real Bread that came down from heaven to give them life.

Peter almost missed out on the amazing nature of the gospel for the Gentiles, because he was still hung up on seeing them as unclean.

It was all a matter of vision. In as much as they thought they could see things clearly, their eyes were deceiving them. That which they perceived was not the reality.

In our own way, today we can be just as guilty of falling into the same situation. We see something desirable and feel we should just put all our energies into getting it, even if it requires questionable actions. We see something that triggers fear and even though we are called to trust in one greater than our fears, we succumb to what we see, make excuses and avoid it.

Indeed our eyes are deceiving us.

This is why it remains a great prayer to ask God to fill our vision so that we only see Jesus. Fill all our vision so that it is Jesus that informs and determines the next step to take and move to make. Often it’s of use to close our eyes so He can fill all our vision and we can see how much better it is to see that the reality is often not of the things that are seen but unseen.

Take care to note that it is the eternal that matters more than the temporal. Be grateful that the invisible and immortal God can make that clear for us to see, if we acknowledge from time to time left up to our own eyesight we can delude ourselves. So we remain ever in need of His light to give us the proper eyesight.

That way, what might appear desirable in a fleeting moment will be seen for what it is and discarded for the greater worth of seeing Jesus. That way, what might appear frightening and inhibiting will be seen for what it is and placed in the light of the Almighty and compassionate God who will give us the strength to keep moving.

All of that starts and ends with the confession that our eyes are often blinded by selfish ambition, our sight is sometimes clouded by the fog of fear and only the God who knows and cares can truly open our eyes to see what matters.

When we see that and cry for mercy, He hears, He answers, He truly enlightens and gives us proper insight.

God help us.

(Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden