Seeing

I just had eye surgery 4 weeks ago. At the same time, I had mono-vision done to where one eye sees far and the other eye sees near. This is done so I don’t have to wear reading glasses down the road when that dreaded day comes for those of us slowly creeping into that category!! (*Shudder*) Because we are NOT THAT OLD!! Right?!

This eye surgery has caused me to be in a long recovery state meaning, the corneas are still healing from the laser that scratched the surface of my eyes and now my eyes are slowly (EVER SO SLOWLY) being renewed and the “scabs” on my eyes are starting to go away to where my vision will eventually get clearer. This is a 3-6 month process. That is a long time to not see well. Don’t get me wrong, I do see SO much better than before the surgery, but the hazy cloud over everything and fuzziness of far away objects is still an issue and it does feel like I constantly need glasses to crisp things up! But that’s not going to happen because I really have itty bitty laser scabs over my eyeballs that are healing!! Haha!

When I don’t see well, I don’t function well. When I used to wear contacts/glasses, and I took them out, I felt like I couldn’t do anything at all because I couldn’t see. Everything was blurry and fuzzy and nothing was clear or crisp. Do any of you feel this way, as a glasses/contacts wearer? Once I put in my contacts for the day, I felt like I could conquer the world because I could see to do anything I needed to!

 

Right now, I JUST WANT TO SEE! I mean, C’mon! With technology the way it is, why is this not fitting into my “instant gratification” meter?! I am finding myself in that in between stage of seeing everything with a haze or blur to it. Sometimes certain things are somewhat clear but much of what I look at is still fuzzy. It makes me feel “blah” tired, drained of energy. Maybe that sounds weird. I know I need to focus on certain tasks but it feels so much more difficult because I don’t feel like I can see well enough and I have to focus that much more intently on anything I do so then I feel like I’m draining more energy from myself and the task at hand. It takes a lot of concentration for me to focus on anything to begin with and removing this piece has made it that much more difficult. It is something I am learning to overcome and push through over the next several weeks!

At the same time, I have found myself in a spiritual funk. I want to hear God’s voice, I want to see what He’s speaking to me in His Word. I want to feel motivated to go out and “save the world for Jesus!” But I’m tired, I’m not focusing, I’m not seeing well. I feel blah! But I do know this – God wants to do surgery on my spiritual eyes. He wants us to see things through His eyes and see things clearly, but the world has this way of “fuzzing” things over. Sometimes the things of life get in the way and block our vision. The worries and cares of life and the world cover up and get in the way of what God’s Word has to say about all those things! The lines get blurred and fuzzy. What do we do?

1 Thessalonians 5:21 says – “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;”

We desire to see well, to see His Word clearly –  and we long to do that which is good. That requires careful examination of what we are facing. And honestly, deep inside, you know that truth. The Holy Spirit has a way of convicting us and reminding us of what is true when He lives inside of us!!

These past weeks, I have had my daughter “be my eyes” when I’m driving to help me read signs better or watch for deer, especially as it gets late in the evening. Sometimes we need a pastor, a friend, a mentor to help be our eyes in situations when we are not seeing things clearly in a spiritual sense. And I hate to break it to you, but this is ongoing for all of us during our walk with the Lord. We will have moments of great clarity and revelation and see well, but then there will be moments along the way where it’s hazy and fuzzy and just not clear at all. That’s when we need someone else to “be our eyes” and definitely letting the Word of God bring focus and clarity in those times!!

Jesus and Paul had much to say about seeing.

1 Corinthians 13:12 in the Amplified Bible, Paul says,

“For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God].”

And Jesus – when he healed the blind man’s eyes with the mud he made from his spit, did the man see clearly right away? Nope! He saw people moving like trees. (How did he know what a tree looked like anyway?) 😉 Then Jesus did it a second time, and his eyes were perfectly healed. Sometimes things take time to see clearly. Sometimes, Jesus has us in a holding place and we are waiting to get clearer vision.

Seeing through the eyes of faith might seem fuzzy and blurry for a time. But eventually things will clear up and we will begin to understand what it is we are looking at, focusing on. Sometimes trying to strain to see what we aren’t able to yet can give us a headache! Sometimes when we don’t see well in faith, we walk around with our head down at what’s directly in front of us and don’t get the bigger picture and we feel blah, sluggish, tired, letting the haze affect our performance.

Lift up your head, open your eyes, let the King of Glory be your vision in the moments of doubt and struggling to see well. Let the people of God in your life surround you and “be your eyes” to help you see better as you “drive down the road” of life.

I think God might want to do a little supernatural eye surgery on us and cause us to see HIM and His Word in a much clearer way.

I wrote a song several years ago called “New Eyes” The chorus and bridge go like this:

Give me new eyes, to see what you’re doing in me

A renewed mind to know what lies beyond my dreams

Help me realize nothing’s quite like it seems

Cause without you in my life, I couldn’t see through your eyes.

I know there’s something greater than my eyes have let me see

Holding me back now for so long

I’ve got to remove myself from all the world’s philosophies

So I can lay hold of the future that’s in front of me

I know that I can’t stay with my feet in this place

Let go of the weight throw off the chains

Hear the voice in the night calling me to rise

Need to run for the prize

I need to see

Give me new eyes

© RockChalkMusic 2004