I recently had cataract surgery. I’m a bit young for the condition but had the bad luck of having cataracts that were right in the center of my visual field. While I waited the 5 years for them to get big enough to have them removed, I didn’t notice how my vision had deteriorated. It wasn’t until I was driving at night and realized that I couldn’t read road signs that I knew it was time to have something done.
It was truly amazing to awaken from that first surgery and see the difference in my vision.

I called it “my brown world” and “my blue world”. I’d close one eye, then the other, switching back and forth between a clear world that I didn’t know I had been missing, and a dull world that I was used to.

I heard a song on the radio recently that reminded me of my visual problems- but it didn’t have anything to do with my cataracts. It’s titled “Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath. In the lyrics, he asks God to give him the vision to see people around him as God sees them.  He desires a clearer spiritual vision.  We don’t need surgery to fix this kind of visual problem.

We need a new perspective.

How Does Jesus see me?

What does God see when he looks at you and me? He sees our hurts, our fears, our doubts. He sees the good we do and the dreams we have for our lives. He sees us searching in the wrong places sometimes. He sees the “cataracts” that cloud our vision and don’t allow us to see clearly.

Jesus showed us how he sees people- not only with compassion and mercy but with unconditional, sacrificial love. We need to be praying for the Holy Spirit to give us eyes to see others as Jesus does. Yes, Jesus sees all our faults and sins, but He also sees all of us as His precious children.

Eyes of the Heart

In Ephesians 1:18, Paul uses the expression of “the eyes of your heart” to mean an inner awareness, given by the Holy Spirit, to use the thoughts and feelings in our heart to “see” what God sees. Seeing with God’s perspective is definitely something we can’t do on our own. Our human eyes give a distorted view.
It will take discipline and prayer to even come close to seeing others as God does. We won’t be perfect, but if we keep “refocusing” we will at least gain a clearer picture. I think the more we keep refocusing, the more sensitive we will become to seeing what God sees. Right now I’m using Paul’s words in Philippians 4:8-9 to help me refocus- “Whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

How to See God in Others

So what are the “cataracts” in your spiritual eyes that are distorting your spiritual vision and preventing you from seeing yourself and others as God sees them? He knows our weaknesses. Pray for His discernment to remove those things that are clouding your vision. I’ve been practicing this at the store, the gym, church, while I’m driving- when I’m annoyed, or irritated or reacting in any way that I know is not how God would have me see a situation, I try to correct my “vision” into what He wants me to see.

Here’s a verse to meditate on this week that sums up how to clear up our vision –

2 Peter 1:5-9 “Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.”

Blessings!

AnnMarie