Eyesight

In the fifth grade I put on my first pair of glasses. To this day, I remember the moment my sight changed. I could see the world with crisp clarity. What led to my awareness of blurred vision is from months of tired, strained eyes in the classroom working double time to see the overhead projector.

It has been a few years since fifth grade. I notice that each year my eyesight changes a little more. And it is more than my eyes growing older from staring at screens. My life experiences are refining my sight. The doubt, defeat, or “what ifs” cloud my vision if I believe those things to be true. Am I doing enough? Did I miss my chance? However, the solution to clearer vision is to saturate life with gratitude, humility, celebration, and hope.

There is a man who meets Jesus with a burning hope for restored sight. He wants to see. This man is labeled as blind and poor. He spends his days planted in one place on the side of the road begging. Day after day is predictable for him because this man does not have sight to see the possibilities of what’s down the road or how far across it is to the other side. He lost his sight and now he is stuck.

But then, Jesus walks by.

The man shouts for Jesus. He does not know how near or far off Jesus is from him. The distance is hard to calculate when you cannot see. As the man shouts for Jesus to be merciful to him, Jesus asks the man a question, “What do you want me to do for you?” It feels like a loaded question because the possibilities of Jesus are endless. Does the man ask for wealth or status to remove him from begging on the side of the road? No. The man responds to Jesus, “let me recover my sight.” He lost his sight and is hopeful to see again. The original phrase he uses translates “to look up” that gives a beautiful picture of the man recovering his eyesight as he looks up to Jesus. Isn’t that great?

Sometimes I get stuck in my circumstances and lose sight of the hope that I have in Jesus. I forget to look up. I want my eyesight restored like the man so that I see clearly through an eternal lens. Even though my eyesight gets clouded from time to time, Jesus reminds me what clarity looks like.

What do I want Jesus to do for me?

• Heal me from seeing days that must be filled.
• Heal me from seeing success as continual advancement.
• Heal me from seeing interruptions as distractions.
• Heal me from seeing small as healthy.
• Heal me from seeing money as a comfort.
• Heal me from seeing rest as wasteful.
• Heal me from seeing judgement without mercy.
• Heal me from seeing my sin apart from the cross.