Seeing 20/20

My grandmother grew up in Indiana to a poor working class family. They couldn't afford common luxuries and even some necessities were overlooked--like eyeglasses. My grandma lived most of her childhood in a haze, not being able to see more than a few feet in front of her. To her, not being able to see was normal. Her vision had always been that way; what could she compare to it? One day in elementary school, her teacher noticing that she had trouble reading the chalkboard strongly advised her parents to get her glasses.

My grandma tells the story of walking outside for the first time in her glasses. She stepped out into the light, looked up, and for the first time in her life she saw leaves. The only leaves she had ever known were green blobs that bobbed around in the wind. But with glasses, she could see each beautiful, delicate, intricate leaf. She had been living in a leaf-less world. The leaves had always been there, but prior to her glasses she couldn't perceive them.

-----

Every point of dramatic change, increase, healing, wholeness, or restoration in my life has been associated with an "aha" moment. Something clicked on the inside of me and I felt like my grandma--how have I gone my whole life and never seen this before?

The truth is that we only see whatever it is that we believe to be true. Our beliefs can cause us to live life in a haze, missing the reality that God has for us; or they can act like glasses, causing us to see things we never have before.

Jesus tells us in John 8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (NKJV).

We hear all the time "the truth shall make you free," but the power of this verse is not in the truth alone, it is in knowing the truth.

The word "know" in John 8:32 literally means "to understand, percieve, or have knowledge of" (strong's G1097). It is a relationial term that is often used to signify intimacy between husband and wife. God is literally saying that we need to have a living, breathing realtionship with His Truth to walk in the freedom and abundant life He has for us.

Your life follows whatever it is that you believe to be true. God has given you a free-will. You can choose whatever it is that you believe. Satan, wants us to turn off our God-given ability to think and perceive the truth. He wants us to live in a haze and a fog, just bumping around through life hopeing things work out in the end. His M.O. is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He's been defeated and stripped of all his power (Col 2:15), so he uses lies to confuse our believing and keep us from using our power against him.

If satan can't keep us from believing in God, he will try to warp our beliefs about Him. For example, when something bad happens, he might tell us "If God is in control of everything, this must be His will." If you believe the bad things happening to you are God's will, you won't use your God-given right to be more than a conqueror and fight against them. Satan doesn't have to fight you, your wrong beliefs will tie your own hands. Do you see how sneaky that is?

Here's the good news, if you are a believer God lives inside of you, and He is truth. All you need to correct wrong beliefs is an openess and desire for God to show you truth. I'll give you a trick to help you get started.

God is good. He loves you. He has a good plan for you life. He has all the resources in the universe at His disposal and He has promised to take care of you. He is and has literally everything you will ever need in life. So, any area of your life that is not glistening with hope, means that you are believing a lie and allowing a stronghold of the enemy. Find one area that you are not overwhelmed with hopefulness, and ask God to show you what lie you are believing. When He does, take a moment to verbally cast down that lie and say what is true. I call this "putting on the truth."

As you begin to practice putting on the truth, you will see things that you never have before. You will walk around with new eyes and wonder how it is that you lived your whole life without seeing these things before.

Happy growing!