The Gift of Sight

What an amazing gift I received a couple of days ago! I can see on my own! Since third grade, I have needed thick glasses or contacts to see anything more than two feet from my face. Due to various reasons, I recently decided to pursue LASIK surgery, and I’m so glad I did. In a mere twenty-one seconds, my impaired 20/400 vision was radically changed to 20/20 vision. It’s a true miracle of scientific technology.

Now I’m in the recovery stage. Part of my recovery involves wearing sunglasses around the clock for several days to protect my eyes. My sunglasses don’t leave my face. Whether you find me indoors or outdoors, you will see me in shades. Quite a few stares have come my way as I’ve walked through public places in the last couple of days. Last night at church was no exception. However, I have truly been blessed with the most wonderful group of friends. They did not want me to feel like the odd one out last night at church, so my Wednesday night table friends surprised me by showing up wearing their sunglasses too. It was a night of genuine camaraderie that made me feel very loved. (It was also a night of great laughter!)

While the gift of unaided physical sight is certainly a cause worthy of celebration, the gift of spiritual sight is so much more astounding. God doesn’t take people with poor spiritual eyesight and give them better vision. He takes people who are spiritually dead in their sins, which means they have no ability whatsoever to see, and gives them the ability to see their desperate need of him. He brings them to life and graciously allows them to witness what John Calvin calls “sparks of his glory.”

Once a Christian has been given spiritual sight, there is a period of much needed protection. We live in a world greatly influenced by an enemy who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Just like I need sunglasses to protect my eyes from light and potential dangers, believers need protection from the enemy and the world. Paul emphasizes this need when he says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11).

I’m so grateful to be a recipient of God’s saving grace and to have the eyes of my heart enlightened (Ephesians 1:18), but my spiritual vision isn’t perfect yet. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). God has chosen to reveal his glory to us incrementally. We’re not ready for his full glory yet, but he is preparing us for that glorious day.

A day is coming in the very near future when I will shed these protective sunglasses because my eyes will be ready to face the outside world. They will be fully healed and whole. I won’t need my steroid drops or my antibiotic drops or my sleep shields. I will simply experience normal vision the way it’s meant to be enjoyed.

In a much grander sense, my fellow believers and I will one day leave this sinful world behind. We will stand before the throne of God fully healed and whole. We won’t need our armor or a veil or any other kind of protection. We will see God face to face, and we will finally experience his full glory the way it’s meant to be enjoyed. For the rest of eternity.

Until then…

Let’s wear our armor.

Let’s support each other.

Let’s look for “sparks of glory” using our God-given sight.