Need New Glasses?

"Are we gonna do this again?" Scott was holding up the coupon from the local optician. We'd used their service last year, and were pleased with the results. "Yeah, I could use new glasses," I replied. And, somehow, that turned into this whole "thing."

Last week, I confessed to a friend the frustration I feel when someone parks over my driveway. "I have this vision of taking a can of spray paint and drawing it from the edge of my drive, right across their trunk lid to show them how to pull up." She responded by saying, "I'm glad to know you are human." I was astonished! Not offended -- I know what she meant: the one I'd perceived as "having it all together spiritually" thought the same of me. We were both wrong.

On Monday, a friend texted me about one of my posts. It had stirred a memory of a time when she had not felt so confident or adequate. I was, once again, astonished. This woman was so mature, so classy, so vibrant, so "together" -- even in high school! She was a pretty girl then, but through the years has grown into a sophisticated beauty with a spiritual refinement that pours forth from her like precious oil. She does not always see what others see.

And then there was the moment in the grocery store. Scott began telling me about a book he is reading. "I like this guy," he said, speaking of author, James MacDonald. "He explains things clearly, so I can understand them. It's like I'm looking at things differently. I can see things I didn't see before." That did it! "Okay, I got it," I said aloud, speaking not as much to my husband as I was to my Father.

Today a coworker began talking to me about perceptions. (Perhaps I hadn't quite gotten it.) Our discussion turned to the way we perceive others as being "less than" or we label situations as being "unfavorable." We agreed, perception is nothing more than opinion -- like "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Truth is able to rejoice in suffering and know God is working for the good of those who love Him, who are called. That is truth!

So, how is your vision? When you're looking at the world through warped or dirty lenses it doesn't matter what you are looking at, the picture will not be accurate. Whether you are looking in a mirror or staring at your best friend; whether you're scanning the want ads or gazing out at your neighbor as he straggles home from work; whether you are looking at a stack of bills or the numbers on a bathroom scale; whether you're rereading the last letter he wrote to you or rereading the last letter you'll write to him, if you are looking at it through any lens but the lens of Truth, you will not see clearly. How we perceive the world around us or within us is only truth if we view those things through the blood of Jesus Christ, the One who makes all things new!