When I was about seven years old, my mom took me to have my vision tested. My teachers had noticed that I was squinting a lot and having a difficult time reading the chalk board. Up until that point, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t see. I seriously thought my issues were due to white chalk on a not~so~clean blackboard. It wasn’t until the doctor started playing with the lenses and asking me to pick which one was clearer that I realized how little of the world I was seeing. Once he settled on a prescription, the doctor ordered my glasses and told us to come back to pick them up.
I remember the day we got the call that my glasses were ready; I was so excited to pick up my new specs. I thought of all the books I’d read, TV I’d watch, games I’d play… I skipped into the optometrist’s shop and modeled my new glasses in the mirror, smiling as I saw myself clearly for the very first time. What I wasn’t prepared for was what happened when we walked outside and I saw trees for the very first time. I mean, I really clearly saw the trees and was flabbergasted. I tugged on my mom’s sleeve, looked her in the face and said “Mom, I didn’t know trees had separate leaves.”
All of my life, I’d only seen trees as brown sticks with a blur of green, red, and yellow on top. I saw individual leaves on the ground, but never individual leaves growing on a branch.
Sometimes that’s the way I feel when God’s word speaks to me; like I’ve read the verse but never understood the individual words. I see things through a haze and a blur until I take the time to view His word through His lens. John 4:24 {KJV} says: “God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” When I try to focus on His words on my own, I feel like that little girl, squinting and struggling to see; but when I stop and pray, I see the individual leaves…
I’m linking up with:
Internet Cafe Devotions ~ Word Filled Wednesdays
