The Limits of my Vision
Terry Dashner????Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken
Arrow, OK 74013
Even if you have 20/20 vision, you can see only a fraction of
the splendor that?s around you. There are ranges of color that
our physical eyes cannot perceive. For instance, we see a
spectrum from red to violet, yet beyond red is infrared, beyond
violet is ultraviolet, and so on in great unimaginable reaches
that we never perceive because of our physical limitations.
Physical limitations?everyone has them. Nevertheless, we are not
limited by what we see or don?t see physically. That?s right.
You see there are two ways to see. We can view the world with
our physical eyes, and we can observe things with our inner
eyes?the eyes of our spirit.
Part of the gloom in life comes because people don?t have the
faith and hope to see with the eyes of their soul. They claim
that God is unjust, life is unfair, and that their troubles are
greater than anyone else?s, when actually they have little to
complain about. Joseph Turner, the English landscape painter,
was noted for his gorgeous sunsets?all blue and violet and red
and orange. One day a woman criticized his painting, saying,
?I?ve never seen a sunset like that.? Turner answered, ?Ah,
madam, but don?t you wish you could??
The key to all success is how you see. One man may look at
opportunity and call it too much of a risk. Because he sees only
the risk, he lets the opportunity pass. Another man may see the
identical opportunity and call it a possibility. By acting on
what he sees with the eyes of his imagination he succeeds. It?s
all in how you view things.
The story is told about a female author who had trouble with her
eyes and went to seek medical help. The doctor examined her
carefully and then said, ?When you are reading or writing, leave
your desk every hour or so and go to the window and look out
across the fields or at a distant tree for a few minutes. Then
you?ll find you can return to your desk and carry on your work.?
That kind of far-distant view is what we all need, a chance to
turn from our narrow range of vision and look to God.
Why should we look to God for better vision? For several
reasons: for one, God made us in His image and His likeness. He
is Spirit and not physical; therefore, He is not limited by a
physical body. And He has unlimited vision. By looking at the
impossibilities in our lives through the eyes of God, we
overcome our limitations. This is God?s will for us. There is
another reason, also. According to the Bible (Romans 8:19-20),
the physical world around us is more than what we can see
physically. In other words, God?s created order is subject to
limitations because of sin. When Adam and Eve fell to sin, the
creation fell under a curse that robs it of its total beauty. It
won?t be until the curse is lifted by God at a future date that
the created order will, once again, radiate in full beauty.
What does that have to do with our vision? If you are prone to
believe only what you see physically, you may be duped by a
cursed reality. In other words, why would you place all your
trust in what you see physically when what is seen
physically?the world around you?is far from what it is suppose
to be. The Bible says that we are to see things through the eyes
of faith. Why, because the things that are seen by faith are
more evident, more alive, more real, than the physical universe
that is seen with the eyes of men.
I remember looking through my bedroom window one day and seeing
a dim and dismal landscape outside. When I went outdoors to view
the landscape at a closer distance, I noticed the colors in the
shrubbery were much more vivid than what I have seen from my
bedroom window. Upon closer inspection of my bedroom window, I
noted the window tinted with a dirty grit (not at all uncommon
in Oklahoma where wind and dirt come sweeping down the plains
often). Once the window was washed, the problem was eradicated.
Our limitations in life relate directly to the clouded lens,
covering the eyes of our inner being. There is a way to get rid
of the dirty lens. Ask God to help you. God has sent His only
Begotten Son to cleanse us from our sins. The cleansing comes to
all who ask for it, but this too must be received by a vision of
faith. Can you receive something from God even though you can?t
see it physically? Yes, as a matter of fact, all things of God
are by faith and with the eyes of the spirit.
There is much more to your life than what is seen physically.
There is much more in life that awaits you if you will simply
begin seeing things as God sees them?by the eyes of His Holy
Spirit.
Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming soon?every eye
will see Him this time.
Pastor T.
About the author:
Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK. U.S. Navy veteran,
retired police officer, and father of three grown children and
two grandchildren.
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