Eyes

My eyes have been puffy and red and watery now for about a week and after trying antibiotics to no avail the doctor said it is viral and just has to run its course.  So I am waiting, but as I do, it has made me realize how much I take for granted my sight. And yesterday I was at a Junior League meeting and I visited with my long time friend who has to get shots in her eyes once every six weeks and who lives daily with blurred vision that is unable to be corrected. She has dealt with this for several years and only now can I begin to understand her frustration and discomfort.  

We do not often times realize the pain and agony that someone else is experiencing until we get a little taste of something similar ourselves. And when we do it heightens our awareness and stirs up our compassion.  I have two points to make regarding this topic.  The first lies in the verses that read:

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.   

God allows bad stuff to happen to good folks, he just does.  We don’t know why but we can be assured he will work our distress and suffering into his holy plan of goodness and love.  But when he does let us experience tough times, I am convinced that we are to learn of his faith, provisions and hope, stand on his truth and promises and pass it on to help someone else who has come under the same cloud that we have already walked through.  It is a true encouragement to others when we share a story with someone who understands the many emotions and tears and fears that come with the experience. God uses those very times to bring us together and unite us in a strength of Christian fellowship. We are called to love each other and sincerely care for one another.

So next time you have found yourself in a valley of pain and suffering, be assured that God has allowed someone else to go before you and experience many of the same feelings, and if you let them into your life when God sends them, you will find encouragement, support, and strength and hope by embracing the faith that you share and the God that you worship.  And when the tables are turned and you are the one who has gone through the darkness and have found the light of God’s truth and faithfulness at the end of your tunnel, you too are called to step up and walk someone else through their valley.  

The second point is simply this.  We all have blinders on and blurred vision when it comes to seeing God clearly. For too many times, we ignore his presence, dismiss his direction, do not appreciate his blessings and fuss at Him when our prayers are not quickly answered as we have requested.  But the deal is if we prayerfully submit to the promise that Christ is the ultimate authority over all situations and seek his will, we will be given that precious opportunity to be able to see him clearly in every situation. 

Psalm 146:8

the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.

If is funny how God helps us to see clearly the pain of others only when we are inflicted with pain ourselves.  This just makes the point that as Christ suffered many inflictions to the point of death that he completely understands our every affliction and has compassion through his loving kindness on us that we will never truly get. But even in out meager attempts to understand another and have compassion on them, that is when we are actively showing the love that we have found in Christ, and he can and does magnify that love for His glory.   

Dear Lord, I ask that you bless my precious friend who is battling with eye disease, and so many others who can so relate to her affliction.  Thank you for giving her such an attitude of gratitude in spite of her circumstances and for the blessing of her sharing it.  For it is such a reminder to appreciative whatever we have been given and be grateful for sight, and sound, taste and touch.

Amen