what do you see?

It's been a while since I've been to the eye Dr., but back when I was going, they'd have you look through a big old metal apparatus that had multiple lenses with even more options to see which combination worked best for getting your eyes to focus and see clearly.  

<in the most monotone, bored voice you can muster> "which one is better: 1............ or 2.................. 1?................ or 2?................."

Sorry to any eye Doctors out there, but that was my experience. I just use it for some comic relief before the Holy Spirit pokes you in said eyes and you start to see clearly. 

If you wear anything to help you see, you know how frustrating it is when your Rx changes, or they break, get scratched, or need replacing. I would feel like my world got pulled right out from under me. I could see, now I can't. Then you get your glasses or contacts back, and voila! You're back in business baby!! To sum it up, No glasses- bad. With glasses- good. 

If you don't need anything to help your vision, or you're like me and jump on the Lasik train, we're "good". We can get cheap sunglasses if ours break, at any given gas station at that! No more switching between glasses and sunglasses when you're out, or having to carry a big protective case because they do NOT just get thrown in your bag. But the truth is, whether you wear the glasses or not, THAT is not indicative of how clearly we see. Let's look at Matthew 13:10-17 NIV:

10The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”11He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.12Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.13This is why I speak to them in parables:“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.14  In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:“ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.15  For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’16  But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.17For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

to unpack that lightly, just because we can see a crisp outline of the leaves on the very top of the tree, isn't the kind of "seeing" Jesus wants for us. Lenses or not- if you aren't seeing (and hearing) AND perceiving.... you aren't really seeing at all. 

When you see a hypothetical giant in your life, is that giant (obstacle) a deterrent for you-- causing you to hang your head in defeat and retreat to what is comfortable, "easy", safe? Or is the hypothetical giant staring you in the face an opportunity to overcome and glorify God?

If you've accepted Jesus into your heart, and that He is LORD and Savior, you have the ability to see that giant for what it is: an opportunity to overcome and to glorify God. Whether it's forgiving someone "unforgivable", or doing a physical task that's hard; a believer *should* be prepared to fight the spiritual battle around this giant.

 If you don't know if you've accepted Jesus, or have question, please email hello@the-one-society.com and we'll get you on the path to clearer vision and fighting the battles in front of you with the right defense system.

When tragedy hits, and people leave, and things fall apart, can you see God working, or do only see how things "aren't" working?

 Note that I didn't ask if you understood any of those things, but asked if you were able to look past your flesh, and simply see that He is working. 

As this is being written, I am sitting in an emergency room. Not for me, but for a piece of my heart. It's easy to let feelings and emotions take the wheel, but lucky for me, I've got Jesus. When conversations don't turn out how I want them to, or I don't get the answers I want, it's so easy to see what I want to see: that I'm being mistreated, they don't care, they're not equipped for kids like this, etc. But through my own prayers, and the words of a dear friend, I was able to see clearly. She pointed out that alllllllllll the delays we are experience is not just a delay of this world, but God working and moving to ensure that we are seeing the providers He knows we need, missing traffic incidents, and will have an experience that not only draws me closer to Him, but glorifies Him in the end, too. 

I see that this is an opportunity to overcome now. I knew that going in, but it wasn't until she spoke those prayers that I believed it. 

What obstacles or hurdles are you facing right now (literally), that you could use God- the Divine Optometrist- to help you see life through a lens that'll glorify Him? Can you give yourself a few moments to talk to Him about it? I promise you have that small amount of time- He'll make it happen for you. 

You are the 1 He left the 99 for. It's time to be an overcomer; He's given you the stone and the slingshot. Fix your eyes on Him, and slay that giant.