Blurred Vision

Dry and itchy eyes remind me that spring is on the way, even if the snow-covered ground insists otherwise.

A few years ago, during the annual torture of blinding lights, puffs of air, and dilating drops, the eye doctor took a little stick and flipped my eyelid inside out. That was new.

“Hmm…well that’s interesting,” the doctor commented as she returned my eyelid to its normal position.

I waited for her to explain. She sat back in the chair, pushed the phoropter (which I had always called the big eye exam machine thingy – lo and behold it has a name!) to the side and said, “You have allergies. The inside of your eyelid is covered in little bumps.”

She pointed to a chart on the wall that showed in grotesque detail what the inside of my eyelid looked like since it’s not easy to inspect the inside of your own lid. Ask me how I know.

The doctor informed me the bumps were catching my contacts. I wear weighted, toric lenses for astigmatism.  Those lenses are bigger than normal ones, providing more surface to snag, meaning my contacts were continually floating around my eyes. No wonder I couldn’t see anything.

Until the bumps cleared, I was stuck wearing glasses. She prescribed an eye drop to use 3 times a day for 2 weeks.  She explained that some eye drops might alleviate the itching, but wouldn’t get rid of the the allergy bumps. And until I got rid of the bumps, my vision would be blurred, even if I “felt” better.

We’re often unaware of the things blocking our spiritual vision too. It’s much easier to see the flaws in the lives of others. Jesus said,

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Matthew 7:3-4

As was the case with my own eyelid, sometimes we don’t have a good angle to see what’s happening in our own lives. We may see symptoms of what’s wrong and try to ease the pain with our own solutions.

However, God’s Word is the ultimate prescription for curing the source of our symptoms. As we read the Word, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to sins, attitudes, and actions that need His healing touch in our lives. As we come to Him humbly and ask for help (Matt. 7:7-8), He will do a work in our lives greater than we could ask or imagine (Eph 3:20-21).

What might be blocking your vision? Take a daily dose of the Word and discover how God will heal you in places you didn’t realize were “bumpy!”

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photo credit: Brbys on sxc.hu; text by Amelia Rhodes