A Small Adjustment

It had been well over three years.

It was time.

I’d noticed in recent months, I was straining to see things at a distance.

During the eye test, the optician told me that although my eyesight was actually improving, I’d still need to get some new lenses to correct my sight.

I really liked the frame I have and so I shopped around a few opticians until I found one who’d be able to provide a similar one.

Yesterday, I collected my new glasses.

They looked identical to my last ones, except in two ways.

Firstly, you’d have to look closely, but the frame itself is a different colour.

Secondly, unless you were me, you’d be unable to see the difference, as it is the strength of the lenses that has changed.

Through the focus and strength of the lens, the result is I can see clearly again.

Nothing else has changed.

The world didn’t move closer.

The signs didn’t get bigger.

What changed was the way I was seeing.

To me, that feels like a gentle spiritual truth.

Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22).

Sometimes faith doesn’t require a new view, just a corrected one.

Not a different world, but clearer sight.

David A. Bednar has taught “Spiritual discernment is not about seeing what others cannot see; it is about seeing what others can see but fail to notice.”

As we slow down, by taking time to live more deeply, perhaps the most important things for us to see clearly are who God is and who we really are.

I know personally that when our spiritual eyes begin to focus on Christ, our vision is sharpened around what matters most.

Perhaps the work of discipleship is not always about changing what is before us but rather allowing our vision to be sharpened so we can see what has been there all along.

What are you really focusing on right now, and does your vision need a small adjustment?