Daily Devotional For Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Have you ever had an eye exam? They make you look at that chart where letters start big and each line below the letters get smaller. There may come a point where you can no longer read a line. In that case, you might have to have some glasses or contacts or lasik eye surgery. I have worn glasses or contacts since high school. When I was a pilot, I had to list this for my FAA medical flight examiner. Which meant I had to always have a backup pair of glasses and/or contacts with me when I flew a plane. My near-sightedness was great. It was the far-sighted vision that was the problem. Then one day, I had lasik eye surgery by Dr. Alan Brown and for the first time since high school I had perfect vision. No more glasses. No more contacts. And no more listing this for my FAA Medical flight examiner.

But Dr. Brown told me there would probably come a time when I would start having trouble with nearsightedness. And boy was he right. I eventually developed myopia and had to have “cheaters” to read. Depending on the amount of nearsightedness you have, your vision will get blurry at the end of your nose or at some greater distance. David writes in Psalm 146:8a, “The Lord gives sight to the blind . . . “ (NIV). Well, without a God-given spiritual vision, we can easily supper from spiritual myopia — spiritual nearsightedness. 

When this happens we can focus only on ourselves. We start using the pronouns “I, me and mine” instead of “God’s, the Lord’s and Jesus Christ’s.” It is so easy to stay focused on ourselves and I have learned and experienced that no matter the age we are, the easier it is for us to keep our focus only on ourselves. It takes a lot of intentionality to look beyond ourselves to outside of ourselves to the needs of others, our church and what the Lord wants. 

It is easy for us whine and complain just like the Hebrews did when Moses was leading them out of Egypt. No matter where they were as free people, they kept losing sight that God had freed them and the land God was leading them to receive. The focusing issue we have with God’s vision for us is walking by faith. Hebrews 11:6a says, “And it is impossible to please God without faith” (NLT). And Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). 

Notice faith is about what we cannot see. We live in such a scientific world that we want proof and assurance ahead of time. But when it comes to God, all we have is His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit. And the question we have to answer is this: do we trust God enough with what we cannot see or do we want to demand of God our own equivalent of a burning bush experience.

There is a difference between vision and view. Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw mud, one saw stars. Howard Hendricks was the professor of Biblical Hermeneutics and Preaching at Dallas Baptist Theological Seminary for years. He died at the age of 88 on February 20, 2013. He wrote this about faith:

“I didn't observe any of you come into this room and examine your chair before you sat in it. You just automatically committed yourself by faith to the chair, assuming it would hold you. Most of you got here by car; you slid in the car and turned on the ignition and away you go. You don't have a clue as to what goes on behind the scene. You can't explain the process. You just trust it.

The last time you went to a doctor, he wrote out a little prescription. You couldn't read it. In fact, you wondered if anybody could read the thing! Then you took it to your pharmacist, and you gave it to him. Have you ever discovered when you give a pharmacist a prescription, he always disappears behind the screen? That shakes me up. I often wonder what in the world the guy is doing back there. I wonder if he slept through his course in pharmacy school. But he gives you the little bottle and says, "Take it three times a day," and by faith you do exactly what he tells you to do. Faith is woven into the system” (Source: Howard Hendricks, "Faith in Tough Times," Preaching Today, Tape No. 140).

Here are some quotes about faith:

• Pastor and author Dr. Martin Martin Lloyd Jones said this: “Faith is a refusal to panic” (Source: Christian Reader, Vol. 31).
   When God is pushing out of your comfort zone into something you cannot see where it is going, do you panic or do you just trust Jesus Christ? 
• “Vision is the art of seeing the invisible” (Source: Source: Jonathan Swift, Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3).
• “Faith is not belief without proof but trust without reservation” (Source: D. Elton Trueblood, late Christian author. Men of Integrity, Vol. 1, no. 2).
• “Faith is not shelter against difficulties, but belief in the face of all contradictions” (Source: Source: Paul Tournier, Christian Reader, Vol. 31.
• “Faith begins where man’s power ends” (Source: Life Application Bible Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 181).

Faith starts with believing in God’s character, that He is who He says He is. Faith culminates with believing in God’s promises, that He will do what He says he will do. When we believe that God will fulfill God’s promises even though we don’t yet see any evidence, we demonstrate true faith. Look at John 20:24-29:

“One of the twelve wasn’t present when Jesus appeared to them—it was Thomas, whose nickname was “the Twin.” (25) So the disciples informed him, “We have seen the Lord with our own eyes!” Still unconvinced, Thomas replied, “There’s no way I’m going to believe this unless I personally see the wounds of the nails in His hands, touch them with my finger, and put my hand into the wound of His side where He was pierced!” (26) Then eight days later, Thomas and all the others were in the house together. And even though all the doors were locked, Jesus suddenly stood before them! “Peace to you,” He said. (27) Then, looking into Thomas’ eyes, He said, “Put your finger here in the wounds of My hands. Here—put your hand into My wounded side and see for yourself. Thomas, don’t give in to your doubts any longer, just believe!” (28) Then the words spilled out of his heart—“You are my Lord, and you are my God!” (29) Jesus responded, “Thomas, now that you’ve seen Me, you believe. But there are those who have never seen Me with their eyes but have believed in Me with their hearts, and they will be blessed even more!” (TPT).

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit wants to help us with that. If we will humble ourselves and admit we cannot see the world around us accurately without His help, He will improve our spiritual eyesight and enable us to see people, and things, and events through a spiritual lens. Let’s not depend on our ability to see the world because we all are a little nearsighted. Let’s ask the Spirit for His perspective, then step out in faith to make a difference for God. A couple of things here. First, about Hebrews 11:1:

“The assurance of things hoped for” means the person has complete confidence that God will fulfill his promises . . . The conviction of things not seen” means that the person believes in the reality of something that he or she cannot see, taste, hear, or touch. The “things not seen” include eternal life, future rewards, heaven, and so forth. Faith regards these to be as real as what can be perceived with the senses. Faith means that if God promised something, He will fulfill that promise. Faith allows Christians to make God-honoring decisions based on unseen realities. This conviction about God’s unseen promises allows Christians to persevere in their faith regardless of persecution, opposition, and temptation” (Source: Life Application Bible Commentary, “Hebrews,” pp. 175-176).

Second, about Hebrews 11:6, “Do you believe because faith makes sense, or because faith doesn’t need to make sense? Some Christians think people cannot understand God and should not try. Others believe that nothing true is irrational, including true faith.

The great church leader Augustine was among the first to ponder the relationship of faith to reason. He concluded, “I believe in order to understand,” meaning that true understanding follows commitment to God, and that we cannot hope to understand God by human reason alone.

Almost nine hundred years later, the great theologian Thomas Aquinas wrote that reason, while marred by sin, can know God through arguments and proofs. God gave us minds, which should be developed and used. To ignore intellectual growth is to live a stunted and naive life. God wants our trust and faith, even while we ponder and wonder about so many matters mysterious to us.

God has spoken to us—to the mind, heart, and will—in Jesus Christ. We do not believe in a void, nor leap into the dark. Faith is reasonable, though reason alone cannot explain the whole of it. So use your mind to think things through. But leave room for the unexplainable works of God” (Source: Life Application Bible Commentary, “Hebrews,” p. 181).

God has an individual vision or purpose for your life. For Abraham, it was to be the father of the Jewish people and Jewish Nation. For Moses, it was to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. For David, it was to be king over Israel. For Esther, to be the liberator of the Jewish people against Haman. For Mary, to be the mother of Jesus. While each of these seem huge, each one still had to be willing to take a step of faith with God’s vision for their life. They had to be willing to look at the evidence they have from God and still trust God with what they cannot see in the evidence. 

Tomorrow we look at faith and vision some more, but until then, where are some questions to consider:

Questions To Consider

1. Where in your life is God currently testing your faith and how are you responding to it?
2. God has an individual vision or purpose for your life. Do you know what God’s individual vision or purpose is for your life? If you do, are you pursuing it? Why or why not? If you do not know, are you willing to learn?
3. When the disciple Thomas heard from the other disciples that Jesus had been resurrected, he wanted proof. Now think about this. He hung out with the other disciples hearing their testimonies of seeing Jesus for another 8 days. It would be 8 days later (over a week) that Thomas would personally see the resurrected Jesus. Thomas had made this huge statement, which Jesus knew. If you were Thomas, how do you think you would have felt knowing that due to your lack of faith In Jesus’ own prophecies about His death and Resurrection you had put your foot in your mouth and now seeing Jesus, you’re having to take it out? What is it you want proof from God — you want God to help you see it —before you will step out in faith and just trust God?
4. How often do you ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see spiritually what you cannot see mystically? 
5. What is the main risk with vision and faith for you and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (ESV).

Prayer to Pray: “Heavenly Father, may my life bear great fruit for Your Kingdom. By Your Holy Spirit, open my eyes to Your invitations and grant me a willing spirit—with courage to obey and a new boldness for Your assignments and vision for my life. Forgive me when I doubt and do not have faith in You, Your will, purpose and vision for my life. I do not want to be known as “A doubting put in your name!”, as Thomas is sometimes called “A doubting Thomas.” Unleash a greater longing within me for Your perspective, Your vision and Your purpose so I can share it effectively with those around me. In Jesus' name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! — Pastor Kelly