Putting On Your Spiritual Spectacles!

One of the things which I need to keep a close watch on is my vision because my chronic illness can affect my eyesight in big ways.

The extra pressure within my brain can put pressure on my optic nerves which in turn can result in damage to my eyes or even blindness.

So in other words, I need to keep an eye on my eyes!

Many years ago after examining my eyes and vision, my eye doctor exclaimed,
"You are one mighty nearsighted young lady!"

I suffer from myopia.

That's just a fancy word for being nearsighted, which means I have a VERY difficult time seeing things which are far away.

The Lord brought that statement from my eye doctor to my mind just a few days ago as I was still thinking about the post from last week! Especially as I pondered upon the following sentences I had written in that post.

"At the time I was suffering from tunnel vision. I was only seeing what I wanted to see. And what I was seeing was ME!"

I'd really like to say it's a very rare occurrence for me to have tunnel vision, but unfortunately it's way more of a problem than I'd like for it to be.

Over these past few weeks, the Lord has been teaching me much about my vision, and I'm not speaking of my physical vision. I'm talking about my spiritual vision.

Let's just say, He's been opening my eyes!

I'm nearsighted physically, and I also have a tendency to be nearsighted spiritually!

We all know that whatever we focus on, whatever we are staring at becomes ingrained within our thoughts, minds and hearts, and eventually spills out in our words, actions and attitudes. 

In order to look beyond the circumstances and trials of life, I'm choosing to slip on my spiritual spectacles so I can view things the way God views them.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll never understand why God does all that He does, but at least when I'm peering through my spiritual spectacles, the focus gets taken off me and onto the Lord.

When I'm viewing life without my spiritual spectacles I see,

Illness

Limitations

Fear

Loneliness

Missed opportunities of fun

Discouragement

Tears

The unknown

However, when I put on my spiritual spectacles I see,

The Lord is ALWAYS with me!

Unique opportunities to serve the Lord and others due to my illness!

One-on-one time with the Lord which I wouldn't give up for anything!

God's peace!

Answered prayers! 

Friendships which never would have happened if not for the illness!

God's faithfulness time and time again!

The Lord at work drawing Brian and I closer together in our marriage!

God's grace!

So why

DO

I remove my

spiritual spectacles

so often?

That's an excellent question!

Because I allow the lies of the adversary to obscure my vision.

All it takes is one nearsighted thought such as, 

"You read your Bible every day, pray for others and serve the Lord in any way you are able, yet your symptoms continue to worsen, so what's the point?"

Instead of SWIFTLY putting on my spiritual spectacles and SQUASHING that lie with THE TRUTH, my nearsightedness chooses to keep that lie in the center of my vision, focusing on it, allowing it to grow and take root in my mind, and then another lie comes into my field of vision and on and on it goes.

The ONLY way

the cycle

gets broken

is by ME!

I must make the choice to stop the nearsightedness and get my focus where it belongs. And where it belongs is on the Lord Jesus Christ and in His Word!

It's a choice

that ONLY

I can make!

For the past several weeks, the Lord has been impressing upon me the following two verses as a means of getting rid of my spiritual nearsightedness and as a way of making sure I'm wearing my spiritual spectacles.

"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of  glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
II Corinthians 4:7-18

I'd like to dissect the verses. Break them down. Give some definitions of the words so we can fully understand this amazing promise from the Lord!

Note: All definitions are taken from The Webster's 1828 Online Bible Dictionary

Light: "Easy to be suffered or endured."

Affliction: "State of pain, distress, or grief. The cause of continued pain of body or mind, as sickness, losses, calamity, adversity, persecution."

Moment: "The most minute and indivisible part of time; an instant."

Worketh: "Produces; accomplishes."

Exceeding: "In a very great degree; very extensive."

Eternal: "Without beginning or end of existence; everlasting; endless; immortal."
"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
Matthew 19:16

Weight: "Worth; influence."

Glory: "The felicity (the ability to find appropriate expression for one's thoughts) of heaven prepared for the children of God; Heaven."
"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."
Psalm 73:24

Things: "An event or action; that which is done, told or proposed."
"And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son."
Genesis 21:11

Seen: "Beheld; observed; understood."

Temporal: "Pertaining to this life or this world only; Measured or limited by time, or by this life or this state of things; having limited existence; opposed to eternal."

Okay, so let's put it all together!

"For our light (easy to be endured) affliction (pain, distress, grief) which is but for a moment (an instant), worketh (produces) for us a far more exceeding (very extensive, in a great degree) and eternal (everlasting, endless) weight (worth) of glory (Heaven!); While we look not at the things (events or actions) which are seen (beheld), but at the things (events or actions) which are not seen (beheld): for the things (events or actions) which are seen (beheld) are temporal (pertaining to this life only, measured or limited by time); but the things (events or actions) which are not seen (beheld) are eternal (everlasting, endless)."
II Corinthians 4:7-18

I know what you're thinking,

"But my afflictions, my trials, my circumstances, my pain, my grief, my heartaches have NOT been for an instant. They have lasted weeks, months, years. And they surely are NOT easy to endure."

Oh, how I know that EXACT thought!

Let's you and I, together, slip on our spiritual spectacles, and as believers in Jesus Christ and by faith, allow the Lord's promise to remind us both that in light of all eternity, life's circumstances are but for a moment, an instant!

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May God Bless You,

Barb