I have worn glasses pretty much my entire life. If you think of Chere you see my glasses! LOL! My goggles (as I affectionately call them) are the first things I grab in the morning and I protect them with my life because I am blind without them! If I am being honest I am way overdue for an eye exam, I mean like superduper overdue. I hesitate going, because I don't particularly enjoy visiting the eye doctor. But, to my chagrin it is time for an upgrade. The lenses are more than a little scratched and cloudy. My vision is definitely not as clear as it should or could be with my old faithful glasses that I've had for like 20 years (just joking kind of). I am sure when I place those new glasses on my face, a whole new world will emerge!
Are you seeing with precision and clarity? Or is your vision blurry? I'm not referring to your physical eyesight, but your spiritual eyesight. As Christians we all wear spiritual glasses and from time to time we need to check our vision. Clear spiritual vision is vital to our walk with God, our faith and how we navigate through the world. Our spiritual vision can get clouded by our natural vision. When we start to see through a natural vision, we lose clarity of who God is and who we are in Christ. Sometimes we hesitate to get that vision check up, because we get accustomed to the lenses we are wearing.
Is it time for a vision check up? If you're hesitating let me give you some reasons why you should check your spiritual vision...
Reasons to Check Your Spiritual Vision
Get a clear vision of God's plan for your life
When our vision is cloudy, we can't see envision God's plan for our life. Instead we spend our time frustrated, confused and searching through our natural lens to try and find ourselves and position in the world. When our spiritual vision is on point, we can see that God has a purpose and plan for our life. We stay obedient, and in alignment with Him because our vision of His path for us is not clouded. We see that the world offers empty promises and solutions that are based in the natural world that will always leave us unfulfilled.
Guards against discouragement
If we view our circumstances through a physical instead of a spiritual lens, we tend to focus on the obstacles. Worldly vision sets us up for discouragement because it only shows us what is possible through human standards and strength. Clear spiritual vision show us that God is bigger than our circumstances and through Him we are overcomers.
Protection against sin
Foggy spiritual vision is a pathway to sin. If we look through a worldly lens, we can see sin as attractive and permissible. A worldly vision tells us that instant gratification is okay and even encouraged. Clear spiritual vision lets us see sin clearly and enables us to use spiritual discernment and wisdom that guards against sin and shine a light on darkness, so we can choose what is beneficial and not harmful.
Clear spiritual vision enables you to walk in truth
Spiritual vision helps us to see the truth, to walk in truth and live in truth. Our natural vision caters toward the flesh, and ignores the truth because it doesn't fit the narrative that matches our fleshly desires, whereas our spiritual vision caters to our spiritual life and seeks the truth and the light of God.
Allows you to see other with God's love
Our physical lens zeros in on each other's differences. If you don't agree with someone and you see them through a physical lens, it's likely that you will oppose them instead of loving them though the eyes of God. A natural lens can harden our hearts, but through clear spiritual vision we see differences with loving eyes, with a heart of compassion, and patience as God sees us in our imperfections.
Reminds you of who you are in Christ
When our spiritual vision prescription is correct we view ourselves correctly as a workmanship created in the image of God to do His good works. When our spiritual lens is askew, our faults are magnified and we can dwell in who we were in our old skin of sin, instead of a new creation, created in Christ.
Proverbs 29:18 Tells us, "Where there is no vision, the people will perish."
We have been blessed with spiritual vision and it is our responsibility to keep it clear so that we can see with precision and clarity, so that we will not perish, but flourish. I think about Paul and how he was living prior to accepting Christ as one whose vision was clearly physical. He was persecutor of Christians when his actions were dictated through his natural vision. Paul was on the road to perishing and the God struck him blind. He had to remove his natural sight, to give him spiritual vision. When those scales fell of his eye Paul's spiritual vision was clear. He then began to flourish by following Christ's commission to spread the gospel. Think about this, Paul's spiritual vision enabled him to have a clear vision for his life, to not be discourage when he was persecuted, to speak and walk in truth regardless of the cost, to walk away from his old life of sin, and to reflect God's love to others to bring them into God's fold. Paul knew who was in Christ!
Do you have some scales on your eyes that need to fall off? Is it time to upgrade your spiritual lens prescription, please don't hesitate! Go to the doctor...our Lord! Ask him to examine your spiritual eyes, and accept the new prescription!