I went to get my eyes examined today. I know, I should have had my head examined while I was there, but we stuck to the eyes. This is a horribly barbaric practice. You let a guy or gal you know nothing about drop nasty stuff into your eyes that burns so they can take a spotlight and put it a millimeter from your eye and turn it on full strength and then say don't blink. They click back and forth through countless slides that look exactly the same while they say is this one better or this one. I know it is the same doggone slide! For this they charge you $65. And worse, I wrote the check.
And do you know what he said when the torture was over? He said my vision was so bad he didn't think he could bring it completely to 20/20. My vision has been so bad for the last six months that where ever we did get was a vast improvement, so I am not complaining or at least not much! But it did make me think about how I see, and how I view things. I am aware I am a broken person and I see things from that perspective. And I am aware that as God bring healing and wholeness my vision improves. But do we ever get to 20/20 spiritual vision. Will I ever get so I see things truly as God does, or is my vision so bad that we only get back to 20/30 or so?
Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I think it's entirely possible that Paul and my evil scientist, err optometrist were saying the same thing. There is a point where vision is so bad it cannot be fully corrected in this life time. But praise God another one is coming where our vision will be perfect, where we will see as God sees, we will fully know all what we can only know in part now. Isn't that cool?!
So how does that relate to living now? I think it ought to be kept on the radar screen as we try to walk in faith together. So many endless arguments might have been avoided if we could all remember that much of what we see as true might only be true in part. God reveals himself to us through his Word, through his Spirit, through his Body as he has always done so. If we are wise we stand not only in our own revelation, but also in the revelation of the generations that have gone before us. Still, despite this and all the vast amounts of knowledge, we see dimly a poor reflection. Maybe I don't have quite the whole picture yet, the whole revelation, know quite all there is to know. I do know how the story ends, but only that God wins.
I also think remembering that we are fully known is a wonderful gift. It's more than any of us could ever wish for, someone who knows us through and through and loves us more than we can imagine anyway! Perhaps remembering that we are limited to knowing in part will help us extend some grace to those around us whose parts seem disjointed. They probably are.
The image of standing face to face with God is a delightful one to me these days, though I will admit it was not one I embraced for a long time. My vision of God was limited to an angry father who I could never please for long. I dreaded the day when we would square up and he would point out all my short comings. As I have grown in understanding, still very dimly, God has much more dimension, much more love, much more desire to have a relationship with me not to punish but to dance because for whatever reason, he made me to be his.
So while my vision is about to improve, it will never be perfect. I will try to remember that when I think the type is a just a little too small or the page just a little fuzzy. My spiritual vision is improving too. I see a little more clearly than I once did, but not perfectly. I pray to remember that too as I deal with minds that seem too small and faiths that are fuzzy. But one day, one day it's all 20/20!
And do you know what he said when the torture was over? He said my vision was so bad he didn't think he could bring it completely to 20/20. My vision has been so bad for the last six months that where ever we did get was a vast improvement, so I am not complaining or at least not much! But it did make me think about how I see, and how I view things. I am aware I am a broken person and I see things from that perspective. And I am aware that as God bring healing and wholeness my vision improves. But do we ever get to 20/20 spiritual vision. Will I ever get so I see things truly as God does, or is my vision so bad that we only get back to 20/30 or so?
Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I think it's entirely possible that Paul and my evil scientist, err optometrist were saying the same thing. There is a point where vision is so bad it cannot be fully corrected in this life time. But praise God another one is coming where our vision will be perfect, where we will see as God sees, we will fully know all what we can only know in part now. Isn't that cool?!
So how does that relate to living now? I think it ought to be kept on the radar screen as we try to walk in faith together. So many endless arguments might have been avoided if we could all remember that much of what we see as true might only be true in part. God reveals himself to us through his Word, through his Spirit, through his Body as he has always done so. If we are wise we stand not only in our own revelation, but also in the revelation of the generations that have gone before us. Still, despite this and all the vast amounts of knowledge, we see dimly a poor reflection. Maybe I don't have quite the whole picture yet, the whole revelation, know quite all there is to know. I do know how the story ends, but only that God wins.
I also think remembering that we are fully known is a wonderful gift. It's more than any of us could ever wish for, someone who knows us through and through and loves us more than we can imagine anyway! Perhaps remembering that we are limited to knowing in part will help us extend some grace to those around us whose parts seem disjointed. They probably are.
The image of standing face to face with God is a delightful one to me these days, though I will admit it was not one I embraced for a long time. My vision of God was limited to an angry father who I could never please for long. I dreaded the day when we would square up and he would point out all my short comings. As I have grown in understanding, still very dimly, God has much more dimension, much more love, much more desire to have a relationship with me not to punish but to dance because for whatever reason, he made me to be his.
So while my vision is about to improve, it will never be perfect. I will try to remember that when I think the type is a just a little too small or the page just a little fuzzy. My spiritual vision is improving too. I see a little more clearly than I once did, but not perfectly. I pray to remember that too as I deal with minds that seem too small and faiths that are fuzzy. But one day, one day it's all 20/20!
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