What If...?

My husband got new glasses a month ago. He couldn't wait to show me the frames he'd selected --and to see clearly once again! Our youngest is excitedly waiting for the notification that his glasses have arrived, giving his teacher regular updates on the progress. I am noticing increased cloudiness in my vision --the apparent result of my cataracts worsening. 

Vision is important to the seeing. We rely on it, probably, as our primary sense. But how does our physical ability to see, the value we place on things like rods and cones, retinas and our optic nerves --how does this compare to our ability to see in the spiritual, supernatural realm? Even at my worst, blinking and straining to see the words on a page, my physical acuity is far too often sharper than my ability to see as God sees. I see the pain of a spouse caring for a loved one with dementia. I see the grief of a child at the loss of his mother. I see the brutality of self-indulgence and the harm it inflicts on the rest of the population. I see the decimation of families because of mental illness and addiction. I see poverty and hunger --of a physical and spiritual nature. I see the trouble, the tribulation, the trials of a world given to a vile Adversary and his sons of perdition. I see, and it wearies me.

But what if I tended and honed my spiritual vision? What if I recognized the good that God worked in my life as I cared for my mother in cognitive decline? What if I prayed to that end for the spouse? What if I leaned in toward that child and helped him grieve in a way that celebrates his mother and turns his eyes to the God who works all things out for good for His people? What if I saw that brutality as a summons to and work against it through community involvement and individual encouragement; stood up for what is right when confronted with wrong and prayed like never before that the harm would cease? What if, upon observing these shattered and chaotic families, I sought God's eyes, His deep love for each individual, His desire that none should receive eternal punishment, and asked Him to direct my service to them as He provides? What if I didn't turn away from the hungry eyes of the impoverished? What if I recognized my own poverty, those areas in which I have failed to walk in the benefits I have been given, things of life and godliness? What if acknowledged the existence of need but celebrated it as a privilege and an opportunity to serve one another as unto the Lord and not unto man? What if I met others exactly where they are and asked them to walk through this life with me? What if...?

I ask this in this season because this is a remembrance of miracles. It is in knowing who God is and all He can do that we find the encouragement to go on in this cursed place, to keep our eyes peeled for wonders. It is in obeying Him --planting gardens, having families, and praying for the good of this world --that we pledge our agreement with His plan, regardless of our physical landscapes. We remember the young virgin, her pregnancy beginning to show, who likely saw the sideways glances of those judging her. What if she'd feared them? We recall the man, glancing toward his betrothed, seeing her growing belly, knowing he'd not been intimate with her. What if he'd put her away to save himself from the humiliating stares of others? We celebrate the Babe, wrapped in strips of cloth against the cold, nursing at a young woman's breast, laid in a feeding trough, born into humanity. What if our evaluation was based solely on what our eyes beheld? Could we believe this was the King of kings, the Redeemer, Savior of the world? What would our vision tell us? Mary did not fear. Joseph did not disobey. What would you choose? What if you chose to give your life to Him today?