When I was a youngster, I was always told to clean my glasses. I could never see out of them, and I discovered that the best view was over the top of the corrective lenses. So, my spectacles which not only cleared my vision and corrected a condition known as “attractive nose syndrome” (my nasal appendage was so pleasant to observe that my eyes liked to look at it) did very little good. I simply was not using them. There, however, was a simple process which could alleviate my blindness and straighten my wayward eyes. I could take the time to clean my glasses. This would solve both problems.
Jesus referred to those struggling with eyesight difficulties on a number of occasions. In Mark chapter eight there is one case in particular. He is chiding his disciples for their lack of faith and asking them to recall when he performed two feeding miracles. One when He fed at least five thousand people with five loaves of bread, and another when he fed four thousand with seven loaves. He asks:
“Do you still not see or understand ? Do you have eyes but fail to see…?”
Jesus had performed the miraculous and his followers couldn’t see it. We like to think that we enlightened ones today would’ve seen the power of Jesus in that day. But the fact is, we probably would’ve been just as blind as these. We all have spiritual lenses soiled and smudged by sin, disbelief, doubt, and faithlessness, and sometimes we even look over the top of these same lenses as we choose not to use them to see clearly what God has done or is doing. God is alive and well. Jesus still saves. The Holy Spirit still guides, comforts and convicts. We just need to pray for eyes that can see.
Is life confusing for you right now? Are you having difficulty understanding or even trusting God’s actions in your life at the present time? Is your faith struggling for survival?
Maybe it’s time for you to clean your glasses. I am cleaning mine.
God bless you
Andy O