Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. (1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT)
Seeing clearly gives a different perspective.
I have enjoyed perfect eyesight my entire life. As a child, when on long trips, my family used to play a game to see who could read the farthest traffic sign—which I most often won. However, around my fortieth birthday, I started squinting when reading. Things looked peculiarly fuzzy up close, so I held them farther away. Oh, I could still see clearly miles down the road; but up close and personal, not so much. For an avid reader, that is problematic.
Having super-sensitive eyes, I opted for a cheap pair of reading glasses instead of contacts or Lasik surgery (God forbid!). For whatever reason, even talking about tears makes my eyes water. I even struggle with putting drops in my eyes! So, I bought several pair of reading glasses to strategically position throughout the house. That way, when I forgot where I placed the pair I had been wearing, another was quickly available.
Recently, I reached for the nearest pair of glasses during my quiet time. Oh my! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! The words jumped off the page! I had not seen that clearly since I was a child reading my dad’s large print edition of the Bible. Little did I know, one of the pairs of “similar” reading glasses had some sort of weird magnifiers. I do not wear them all the time, but they sure come in handy on some of today’s small print.
Seeing Perfectly
Paul assures us there is coming a day when the imperfect, puzzling, cloudy, fuzzy things of this life will come into perfect focus. Darkness will flee from the dawning of that bright and glorious day. Negative circumstances, trials, and adversity of life will reveal their transforming power. Confusing situations and questions will be answered; seemingly conflicting dogma resolved. What caused us to stumble in this life will not exist in the next.
Until that glorious day, we stumble around here on earth. However, as Jesus told the disciples at the well with the Samaritan women, we lift up our eyes—get a different perspective, see things with His spiritual insight. We might be amazed at what we see.
God, help me see this world through Your eyes.
