I See Clearly Now

Close your eyes and what do you see?  Of all the body’s senses that we are blessed with, I feel that the sense of sight is the highest level of importance.  I closed my eyes and tried to walk, but immediately opened them for fear of stepping into a hole or hitting my face on a low hanging, tree branch.

I feel sad when I observe a person having lost their vision that is accompanied by a guide dog or using a red tipped cane to get around.  Instantly, I pause to appreciate my gift of sight that I too often take for granted. 

My dad lost vision in his left eye when he was a boy chopping wood.  A chip flew up and hit him in the eye.  He still had one good eye but was blind in the other.  

I have closed one eye to feel what effect it would have on me.  Three dimension (3D) was gone.  Everything became flat in appearance, because there was no depth perception.  Peripheral vision was marginal. 

I wanted Dad to play catch with me in my youth, but he could not see well enough to catch the ball.  Distant and close related objects coming at him, like a thrown ball, were very difficult to catch.

I understand that blue eyed people are more prone to suffer with cataracts as they age.  I was struggling with my sight until an eye specialist removed a cataract from my right eye and put in a new lens.   I am thankful to the doctor and the new lens.  I think the first words out of my mouth were, “I see clearly now!” 

Vision is 20/20 in that eye…from darkness to light.  The eye chart at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) should be a sinch when I renew my driver’s license this year.

Even with good vision, I stepped on a raised portion of a sidewalk the wrong way and twisted my ankle.  And one day walking with my wife, I failed to see a low spot in the path ahead of us, stepped into it, and wrenched my back.  Seeing clearly and being aware of one’s surroundings are extremely vital to our wellbeing.

Memory is like a window into the past.  I see clearly and remember, as a child, quoting the catch phrase: “I see said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw.”  There was also an old English nursery rhyme and musical round that I sang: “Three blind mice.”

Before I became a Christian, I was spiritually blind as a bat, and ran around like one of the three blind mice, not seeing the pitfalls that Satan placed in my pathway, which caused me to fall.  The pain from these falls was unbearable until I met Jesus.  

The “new birth” experience that happened when I asked God to forgive me of my sins was an eye opener to say the least.  Being “born-again” has given me clarity of vision.  I see clearly now where to place my next step, because God is walking with me.  He opens my eyes to things that are detrimental to my spiritual growth in the Lord. 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,” is a chorus I have sung in church for years.  How true it is, when we look upon His face rather than sin, the things in this world grow dim in the light of His glory and grace.

The first verse in the song, “Amazing Grace” says it very nicely.  “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.”

Being visually impaired is terrible, but being spiritually blind is worse.  Jesus restores vision to the blind as He removes cataracts of sin from the heart.  “I see clearly now” are the words that a sinner, saved by grace, will be shouting when Jesus opens their blinded eyes.

This song is likened to eyesight, which helps a person understand the beauty of being able to take in the magnificence of God through the born-again experience when they invite Jesus into their heart.  Old things pass away, and all things become new in Him.

The three blind mice certainly had their encounter with the farmer’s wife, in the end.  I don’t have to worry about my backside, because Jesus has my six.  He protects me from all backdoor attempts by Satan to hurt me.

The Lord tells me to stand in His strength against the devil with the Whole Armor of God protecting my front side.  God will do the rest.  He sees everything and nothing gets past Him because He is omnipresent (everywhere).

Sin loves darkness not light.  If a person is holding onto night-vision goggles, they need to toss them and not wink at sin or even close their eyes at times, hoping it goes away. 

The temptation to sin is like rolling through a flashing, red light at a railroad crossing without stopping.  If we fail to STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN before crossing, we may suffer the consequences of disregarding the warning signs.  We need to stop, open our eyes wide and listen to God speaking to us through His Word, the Bible.

I see clearly now speaks of those who have seen the Light and have come out of darkness, wearing the Whole Armor of God.

(Ephesians 6:11-17) “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (12) “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (13) “Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (14) “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,” (15) “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;” (16) “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (17) “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” (18) “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

Written by,

Papa Boyd