I went to the eye doctor a while ago and
had a spiritual experience. In order to get a good look at the inside of my
eyes he put drops in them that dilated my pupils. The whole world became fuzzy
as my pupils became unable to close sufficiently to hold out some of the light
around me. I was effectively blind for a period of time!
So, the spiritual experience.
A lot of life is lived like when our
eyes are dilated. We are blinded by the glare of so many messages being sent to
us, and in our sinfulness we are unable to dilate and focus on what God would
have us see. Even God’s Law is distorted in our vision as its glory overwhelms
us! We need a filter to be able to see rightly.
The doctor gave me some dark (but not
stylish) sunglasses to wear, and when I wore them I could see a lot better. We
need something to help us to truly see who God is, what His will is, who we
are, etc. So God set Jesus to tell us and to show us. In the shade of the cross
we can rightly see God’s love for us. In the cross’s shadow we see forgiveness
and salvation.
When we look at our lives through the
cross (become cross eyed?) we also see ourselves differently. We begin to see
the glory of God at work in us. We begin to see the privilege we have as
children of God to bear a message that is so glorious that it gives sight to
the blind, health to the sick, and life to the dead!
Not that we necessarily look good doing
it. Paul says, “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the
surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
But this goes back to the whole fuzzy vision thing too. When we look at
our lives as Christians we expect that once we believe in Jesus everything will
be beautiful. The truth is we’re still clay pots – but with precious treasure
on the inside! So when life batters us and we feel afflicted, perplexed,
persecuted and struck down we don’t need to be shocked and stunned. God
displays his grace through our brokenness. In fact His glory often shows
through the cracks in our lives because they show forth His grace.
Jesus, I thank and praise You for showing
Your glory through a cracked pot like me. Let my life show others the hope You
give me. Amen.
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