Have you been to the eye doctor for an exam? Many of us go in thinking we can see just fine; but the doctor puts these glasses on us with adjustable lenses and starts asking us which lenses we can see through better. And for some of us, we are surprised that our vision is worse than we expected.
I've had a bad case of astigmatism since my childhood. With astigmatism, one gets used to seeing the world somewhat distorted and thinks that what they see is normal. To my surprise when the doctor adjusted the lenses on the trial glasses, I could actually see the right letters and numbers on the eye chart. I’ve now gone through enough exams to know not to trust my own vision unless it’s adjusted through the correct lenses.
Think about the inner voice that talks to you and about others to you during the day.
Q1: What is that voice saying?
Most of the time the words we hear about ourselves and others are not encouraging; this is because our brain’s default is to be negative.
This means that our minds need new lenses to help us see more clearly what Jesus sees in us and in others. Often we have a difficult time seeing ourselves as a new creation. The good news is that our new identity is not predicated on how we, or others, see us but how God does.
Your new identity doesn’t hinge on how you know yourself to be, but on the revelation of who He created you to become.
We need to trust the one who can answer the question, “Who am I?” We need to see ourselves as God sees us. But when it comes to our identity in Christ often we need vision adjustment.
Read Mark 2:13-17
The Pharisees’ vision was distorted because they looked at Levi as the tax collector and sinner that they perceived him to be. What they saw was a despised, marred, ugly outcast of their society; someone that didn’t belong to their “pure” community.
They had a blind spot in regards to the new friend that Jesus made. They were offended that Jesus ate with Levi and other such outcasts of society. The Pharisees saw the tax collector as his occupation not as God’s creation.
These are blind spots that we have. The optic nerve carries the information received from the retina to the brain, where the brain translates it into the single image we perceive, or 'see.' All humans have blind spots, which are spots where the eye cannot see.
Each of our eyes has a tiny functional blind spot about the size of a pinhead. In this tiny area, where the optic nerve passes through the surface of the retina, there are no photo receptors. Since there are no photo-receptor cells detecting light, it creates a blind spot.
Q2: If we have blind spots seeing the obvious, do you think we might have blind spots seeing the hidden (the things that are on the inside of ourselves and others)?
Our brains make connections based on our experience and what we know and then jump to conclusions to fill in the gap of what we cannot see because there is no light there.
That’s why we need a paradigm shift in thinking based on new knowledge that the word of God teaches us about us and others in relationship to God. The word of God sheds light to the reality around us. I pray that our hearts get full of photo-receptors as we receive the heart of God toward ourselves and others.
Jesus doesn’t have blind spots, he has divine vision. He sees us for who he created us to be, not for what we have done. When we grasp who God has created us and others to be, we are able to see ourselves and others the way God intended.
Reflection: Our vision has been impaired, but Jesus’ divine vision helps us to see ourselves and others the way that He sees us.
