When We Can’t See

The last few years or so I’ve struggled with finding a pair of contacts that work well for me.  I’ve worn glasses and contacts my whole life since I’m very nearsighted and can’t see anything past three inches from my face.   Since I hit my forties and started having trouble with my lenses, I have spent so many days so frustrated with the blur around me. I just want to see!

Joe can relate to my frustration.  He is blind in his left eye due to childhood trauma.  (Around five years old, he was hit on the back of his head so badly that it shattered his retina.  It is a miracle he survived a blow that strong.)  His good eye though is not perfect so he still needs to wear glasses to correct the vision in that eye.  Then add in that he needs progressive lenses for his close vision,  and it’s a challenge to find glasses that work for him.  He gets frustrated when his vision is not clear enough or when he gets headaches.  I just wish I could see.  

There are so many stories and allusions to seeing and blindness and opening eyes in Scripture. The eyes of the bind will be opened, I was blind but now I see!!   Scripture reminds us that our human condition is blindness.  We can’t see everything.  When we focus on Jesus, then He starts to make the rest clearer and clearer!

Two things we often can’t see in our marriage:

THE BIG PICTURE

One thing Joe and I often pray for for ourselves and others is to see a birds-eye-view of our lives.   It’s like when I’m struggling with my vision, I can see, but I just can’t see everything.  I know there’s letters on the video screen, I just don’t know what they say!  There are things that God is doing in our hearts and lives that we can’t always see.  I find myself focused on what’s right in front of me and not the whole picture.  Then I get discouraged and feel like, why am I still here?   This is pointless!  

But Jesus has a fully panoramic view of our lives that would blow us away if we saw it all!  So not only do we ask for God to show us the bigger picture, we need to trust Him since He is the Author of it all.   Even in our blindness, we can trust in what He says about us and not just what our temporal eyes see.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him- 1 Corinthians 2:9

BLINDSPOTS

Not only do we not see what God is doing in our lives, we are also blind to the areas that we’re not following God.  Or the areas where we have believed a lie over the truth.  That’s why the Psalmist cries out to God, Search me Oh God!  We need God to show us the areas where we have sinned.

Everyone has blindspots! Do you know who else can help you to see your blindspots?  Yes, your husband or wife! it’s not always fun to hear, but he is in a better position than anyone else to see them.  Are you willing to ask your spouse, what are my blindspots?  Is there something in my heart that is hindering my relationship with God and with you?   That’s a tough question to ask.  But if we do- then that gives us the opportunity to see truth in our lives, and truth always brings freedom.

There’s going to be so much in our marriage the we can’t always see.   We need to be committed to seeing and believing the truth.    God is working even when we think we can’t see!

Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart,  and do not lean on your own understanding.   In all your ways acknowledge him  and he will make straight your paths.

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