Blind Spots

Too often we take vision for granted. For 5 years I worked in an eye hospital in the mountains of Northern Pakistan. I saw so many tragic situations involving loss of vision through infection, accidents, disease and aging. I've always had good vision. Last Thursday afternoon I noticed a change in vision in my right eye while attending a cross country racing event at Langan Park in Mobile. Everything seemed a little hazy and my eye seemed uncomfortable. Being a nurse I started to do a little 'self exam' when I got home and it made me nervous. I noticed that I had developed a 'blind spot' in my peripheral vision. I simply could not see much on the right nasal field of vision of the right eye. I have studied ophthalmology and I was concerned. I initially didn't tell Mary what was going on. We were both scheduled for a trip to Nepal and I knew that if the symptoms were for real that trip might be cancelled. I quietly mentioned I would go in for an eye exam on Saturday at America's Best on Airport blvd to see if I might need a new glass prescription. When I was being examined by the Optometrist who had dilated my eyes for a look at the retina in the back of the eye, his face grew noticeably pale and he began dialing a number for an on call Ophthalmologist. His first thought was I had suffered a retinal detachment which might require immediate surgery. I called Mary and told her I had a serious problem and she took me over to see the retinal specialist who immediately upon examination told me I had a large tumor in my right eye and that I had probably had for a long time. To be honest I wasn't completely surprised. The symptoms I had been having since Thursday were unusual and not good. That blind spot was a sign that all was not well with my vision and that my life was about to change.

  As I write this I do so with my left eye doing most of the work. God is a good engineer and creator and he has built redundancy into the physical masterpiece of the human body. We have two eyes for a reason! I am awaiting more medical appointments and counsel regarding what to do with the tumor in my right eye. I don't know what is going to happen. I have complete and total peace about it. My faith is that God is in control of my life. There is nothing I have not surrendered to him. I trust in him completely and I will be looking for him in every aspect of what will come going forward. God is good..... all the time.

  Whether your eyes are perfect or not we all still have a tendency to have blind spots in our lives. One of the effects of sin in our life is that we don't see our failures and imperfections very easily. We tend to magnify others failures while minimizing our own. We can have blind spots toward what we say, how we  act and in our attitudes. The ability to see clearly is not just a physical reality...it's often a matter of the heart.  In Jesus greatest sermon he mentioned attributes that illustrated a blessed and meaningful life and one of those involved a vision of the heart. Jesus said this in Matthew 5 and verse 6, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

 I am praying and asking God to heal my physical vision. I recognize the precious gift that physical sight is to my life.  I need to see. But there is a deeper need in my life and your life that we too often don't recognize or acknowledge.  We need to see God. We need to experience that inner transformation that allows us to have his peace, joy and love at work in our souls. God knows our blind spots and he wants to heal them and transform them for our purification and his glory.  Would you pray with me for God to open the eyes of our hearts? Yes, I want a physical healing but I don't want to stop there. I want to see what God sees, feel what he feels and hear what he is speaking.  Life is all about relationships.... and the greatest lover of all, God,  is someone I want to see most of all.

Jim