Spiritual Shortsightedness

Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 8:28

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Do you have myopia? I do, and it’s really bad. Myopia is the medical term for nearsightedness, so I can see things that are close up, but the further away they get, the fuzzier they get. And most people that have myopia need contacts or glasses to correct the problem. And in some cases, depending on how bad it is that they really need those to, to legally drive to, to see much of anything.

We all have spiritual myopia. We see real well what’s going on right here, right now in front of us, but we don’t know what the future holds. We don’t always understand why things go the way that they do. And it can be real easy to worry, to fret, to be concerned. You know, does God actually see me? Does he know what’s going on in my life? Does he care about me? Well, yes, he does, but his ways are higher than our ways. As we read in Isaiah 55.

Certainly my plans are not your plans,
and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord.
Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my plans are higher than your plans. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

And that makes sense, right? I mean, he’s God, we are not. And so his ways are going to be beyond our ways, beyond even our comprehension. So how do we know that his ways are for our good? Well, because he promises that they are. We read in Romans 8:28,

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose, (Romans 8:28)

And then he gives us the proof. The proof is in the gift of His Son. A few verses later we read,

Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? (Romans 8:32)

The proof is in the fact that he saw your sinfulness and he saw your brokenness. He saw the brokenness of the world. And so what did he do to correct that? He sent his one and only Son to live here among us, to die for us. He sent his Son to die for you so that you might be forgiven. So you might, through faith in him, be a member of his family. So you might have an eternity in heaven with him. If he didn’t withhold his only Son. He’ll give you whatever you need, he’ll do for you, whatever needs being done.

But it can be easy to forget that. So how do we correct our spiritual myopia? Are there glasses? Are there contacts? Yeah, it’s his word. This is where he shows us his love. This is where he keeps our eyes on the big picture. This is where he promises that he will work all things for your good. And this is the record of his perfect faithfulness to those promises.

So put on the glasses. Stay in the word. Fix your eyes on Jesus and know that he’s working all things for your good as he leads you to your heavenly home.

Amen.