Cataracts

Definition of Cataracts:  A clouding that develops in the lens of the eye obstructing the passage of light.

As we walk in our Christian faith, sometimes the truth that the Holy Spirit wants to shed abroad in our hearts can be clouded by various things like our personal pride, worldly attachments, our grief that comes from experiencing losses at different levels of pain and our failure to look at our own sin honestly.

When truth is clouded, when we fail to see our circumstances through the relevance of scripture, our faith cannot be strong.  Psalms 19:8 says “the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.  The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes”. 

During times where our faith may be prone to wander, seeking truth will keep us from having a clouded view.  When our thinking becomes clouded we may be tempted to rationalize things that we know are wrong.  Allowing a good source of light into our soul will require honestly seeking truth and loving the commands of the Lord.  I am amazed at the number of people who when going through a hard time seek intervention in ways other than turning to the radiance of scripture. 

A friend of mine once told me that when someone came to her with a problem the first thing that she asked them was how much time they had spent in God’s word seeking an answer before they came to her.  Faith believes that God can supply the answers and comfort we need when we are struggling.  It is good to seek advice from people we consider to have wisdom and ability to provide Godly counsel, but to fail to seek God for ourselves is to doubt His ability to speak into our hearts and bring clarity and greater faith.

One summer when I was camping by the lake, we put our tent in a place where the bridge over the lake was visible.  In the morning, a fog had risen up from the lake and the bridge was covered by the fog.  You could see car lights going across the bridge, but the bridge itself was invisible.  As the sun came out and the fog began to dissipate the bridge became visible again.

This is how faith works.  Sometimes we can’t see what is going on, what God is doing is clouded, but by faith we know the bridge is there.  We know that God is at work.  The more light that is let in, the more the fog begins to clear and we can see clearly.  Scripture is like the light shining into the cloudiness to clear away the fogginess of our thinking and it is imperative that we seek the truth of scripture during particularly blurry times.  

These are the lyrics from a song by The Afters entitled, “You Light Up the Sky” :

When I'm feeling all alone
With so far to go
The signs are no where on this road
Guiding me home
When the night is closing in
Is falling on my skin
Oh God will You come close?

Light,  light, light up the sky
You light up the sky to show me You are with me
I can't deny
No, I can't deny that You are right here with me
You've opened my eyes
So I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
You light up the sky to show me
That You are with me

When stars are hiding in the clouds
I don't feel them shining
When I can't see You beyond my doubt
The silver lining
When I've almost reached the end
Like a flood You're rushing in
Your love is rushing in

So I run straight into Your arms
You're the bright and morning sun
To show Your love there's nothing You won't do

I believe that God wants to shine His light into our cloudy situations and show His love for us.  When we turn to Him and allow Him to show His love for us and hide us in the shadow of His wings and sing over us, He will light up the sky and bring us to a truth that will increase our faith and raise us to new levels of strength in our faith.  Turning to other things and people robs us of intimacy with God that can come when we face trials and fail to find our strength from Him alone.

Psalm 89:15 says, “blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord”.  Practicing the presence of God will remove the cloudiness in our faith vision.  During times when we are weak and prone to rationalize our sin, or fall into a trap of pride, truth must be absorbed into our souls to give us the will power to resist and stay in the light.

By faith we enter into a quiet place to seek God and have Him speak truth that will lift us from our cloudiness and bring comfort and healing.  We find an unexplained healing take place in us and the practice of coming to Him becomes more and more exciting.  We love the way He “lights up the sky” and heals our souls.  The hunger for His presence becomes more powerful than our pain.  We change—we will never see things the way we used to see them.  The cloudiness is clearer and why would we go back to the old dull vision of desiring lesser things?