Claiming Your Vision
Something odd happened to me in the last couple of years. I had always had better than 20/20 vision. I could usually see more than anyone around me. It was actually a point of pride as silly as that seems. I loved seeing the details on trees on the mountaintops across the river from my home. I could read the tiniest print without any issues.
So, when I suddenly had to start moving things a little farther away to read them, it bothered me. And, within the last six months, when I couldn’t read tiny writing no matter how far I held it from my face, I finally relented and went to the optometrist for a new prescription. I already had a set of prism glasses for close reading that I got after my car accident. But, those were not really for magnification as much as they were to separate the letters and words caused by my misaligned eyes. Claiming your vision is hard sometimes.
Physical Vs. Spiritual
Physical vs. spiritual vision is another topic entirely. We are currently studying Ephesians in our church. The sermon was about how Paul’s three-day blindness helped him see a spiritual truth. He mentioned his own temporary blindness after LASIK surgery years ago when it hit me. I’ve read Paul’s epistles many times but the message hit differently this time.
Romans 8: 14-17 says “14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” The distance between your head and heart is 18 inches; the difference between knowing in your head and knowing in your heart is immeasurable.
Head Knowledge Vs. Heart Knowledge
The struggle with being an overthinker is that I get caught up in my thoughts. I have head knowledge but not necessarily heart knowledge. Even thinking about the difference has always been kind of a mental game for me. If I know it then I could usually force myself to act on my head knowledge. This Sunday, however, I finally got it. It was the pastor’s illustration, well, not his, but what it made me think of. Because I always had excellent vision, I never really thought about sight so personally. Now I get it.
Years ago my mother had LASIK surgery also. She had terrible vision. One eye was almost completely blind – 20/400 I think, and the other was pretty bad. So she always wore glasses. A couple of years before she died she decided to go ahead and try the eye surgery to see if it helped her. There’s about a three-day recovery time where you’re completely blind because your eyes are covered. After you remove the eye coverings, your eyes are supposed to work. She called me in a panic saying she couldn’t see anything at all – her vision was even worse than before and asked if I could take her to the doctor. I packed up the kids and drove to her; I walked her from her apartment to the car. Gripping my arm tightly as I led her, I could tell she was distraught.
When she walked out of the doctor’s office, she needed no help. She looked different- sheepish, embarrassed. I asked her what happened. “He told me to take off my glasses,” she said. She could not see because she put her glasses back on. Mom got the surgery to fix her eyes. She knew it would fix her vision in her head, but her habits and heart told her to put on her glasses. What she already had was right in front of her but she couldn’t see because her heart knowledge interfered with her head knowledge. She never claimed her vision.
Knowing In My Heart
I know I’m saved. I know that God is greater than satan. I know I am a child of God. But I know those with my head – have I claimed them?
Like a thunderclap, it hit me that my hope in Jesus is not some deep wish – it is knowing that the victory against satan is already won. It was realizing that as a child of God – I am actually a joint heir with Christ. That means God has given me the same power to resist, bind, and banish those ungodly aspects of my life. When the Bible speaks of faith that moves mountains, it is because faith isn’t anemic wishfulness. There is power in the inheritance we gain as joint heirs with Christ. Walking in victory means knowing in my heart that the battle is won. Hope is not what I think might happen, but knowing in my heart that it’s already done.
We Have The Power
We have the power to conquer our fears and doubts, we need only claim it! We can pray for ourselves and for our loved ones secure in the knowledge that there is the same power in our requests as when Jesus comes before the throne of God on our behalf. There is power in prayer – and we have the power to move mountains.
What will you pray for today?