The last few months have found me struggling in a few areas. I kept searching for that thing that has been causing me to feel off – and I’m hoping I’ve finally found it.
After the last two plus years, I realized that it’s been a while and time for me to get my eyes checked. If you’ve been around a while, you may have heard me talking of some vision issues. I have what’s called Binocular Vision Dysfunction (BVD). It’s a misalignment of your eyes and is not diagnosable in a regular eye exam. If you experience symptoms and can’t identify what’s the issue, it can wreak havoc on normal day to day things.
As I scheduled my exam, prior to being seen, I have to fill out a questionnaire. As I was filling it out, all of a sudden, the light bulb went off. Here I was, having some of these issues, not even thinking that my vision could be playing a part – after all, I have been diligently wearing my glasses. Which in hindsight I now realize the coating is scratched and the smallest smudge has me running to clean it because my vision seems off – which was never the case before.
Fast forward to this morning as I was reading a passage of Scripture. I read a devotion and it shared a passage where Jesus was going to raise His friend Lazarus from the dead.
When His disciples asked why they were going back to the place where they tried to stone them, Jesus knew this was a place He needed to go. His friends needed Him and He had miracles to perform.
Remember the guy we know as ‘Doubting Thomas’? We have labeled him this because he told Jesus that unless he touched where Jesus was pierced, he wouldn’t believe that it was Him that had been resurrected.
But, the fresh insight I received this morning as I read the passage in John 11:16: ‘Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Thomas knew there was a possibility they could be stoned to death.. yet he opted to go back to the place with Jesus.
Often, when we hear of Thomas, it’s his doubting quality that we hear of. But, this morning, I saw his faithfulness in the potential of being killed, and still risking to go.
Do people only know one version of you?
Individuals are so multi layered and multi faceted. I pray that God allows us to keep looking and gaining fresh insight when we relate to others.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you are the source of fresh insight. Give us eyes to see, and ears to hear. There are times when we don’t even know what to ask for, so I ask that you do what only you can.