Change Your Lenses

So yesterday I got new glasses for my birthday. I needed them really bad. My dog had chewed all the plastic off of one arm of my old pair and it was down to the pointy wire and I stabbed myself in the head every time I put them on.

I've had that old pair for about 7 years. I felt like my prescription was probably the same, but did the eye exam anyway to make sure. Sure enough, my eyes had held steady for the last seven years and my prescription was exactly the same. So I wasn't expecting a big difference in my vision when I put on the new pair. Boy, was I wrong!

What I didn't realize was that my old lenses were plastic and had turned a pretty significant shade of yellow. When I put on the new pair I felt like I stepped into a completely different world. The effect of the old pair was similar to viewing the whole world through a sort of sepia tone--all the colors were dull and I didn't realize it. Now I'm seeing bright, vibrant, vivid colors and it's amazing! Who knows how many years I'd been viewing a duller version of the world.

I wonder if there's some area of your life that you need to view through new lenses? Maybe it's your family or your job or your church. Maybe bitterness or familiarity or pessimism has caused you to miss out on the vibrant beauty that's right in front of your eyes. Try to change your lenses and allow yourself to remember why you loved those people in the first place. Allow yourself to hope and dream good things for those people again.

If you really have the guts, try seeing yourself through a new lens! How would we look if we could see ourselves through the lenses that God sees us through?

1 Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.