For nearly all of my life, I have depended upon corrective lenses to help me see. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing that I do is reach for my glasses so that I can see clearly. My eyesight is bad enough that any attempt to drive without my glasses would be foolish, but I’m also nowhere near blind. For me, to look at the world without my glasses is to gaze into a world of soft, fuzzy objects filled with color.
Frankly, there are times when my view of a particular situation is better without my glasses. In the blurred-out world, rooms seem neater because the clutter is lost within larger objects and the stains and blemishes that might be obvious to others are invisible to me. Mind you, what I have at that time is not an accurate view of the situation, but it is a less troubling perspective.
Unfortunately, there are too many who have decided that they would prefer to not see the clutter, the stains, or the blemishes in life any more. They have turned to alcohol or drugs to cloud their minds, distracting them from the reality of life and instead providing them an altered perspective where the messes around and within them become blurred. They want to forget, or at least be oblivious to the true condition of their life, and wallow in a world that obscures the pain, causing it to fade into the background.
The problem with having good and clear sight is that you see everything as it is, and when our focus is simply on the things that are hard or painful or messy, it is easy to wonder why we should see anything at all. But it is because we can see clearly that we can also appreciate beauty and warmth and kindness. Yes, we live in a world where evil exists and bad things happen, but there is so much more to life – things that can inspire us and motivate us to both do and be better. Because we can see the beautiful and good things in life, we see the evil things and know that they represent situations to be addressed and not ignored.
In Matthew Chapter 13, Jesus talks about a statement made by the prophet Isaiah when he says that people have chosen not to see things as they are because they have calloused hearts, and therefore they will be ever seeing but without perceiving. People make the decision to not see how bad things are, but by doing so they also don’t get to see how good things can be. The vision that Jesus wants to give us is perfect, and what we see is so glorious that we can look at the most miserable and wretched situation around us and see hope for something better.
Yes, there is evil and pain and suffering in this world, and yes, it may seem like it is consuming you today. But there is a love so pure, and glory so brilliant that is far greater than any darkness, and we must open our eyes and our hearts fully to receive it. May you decide to put aside those things that blur your vision and distract you, and instead embrace what truly is.
Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron