DIG DEEP
Excavating the Depths of God and His Glorious Riches
August 22nd, 2022
SEEING 20/20
Matthew 6:21, ‘”For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”’ (NIV)
We are learning that there is vast spiritual wealth available to each one of us who call ourselves Christians, who consider ourselves children of God. It is buried just under the surface of the Christian life, waiting to be discovered and drawn out. This month we are headed on a dig, so we can explore, excavate and extract the glorious riches God has for His children.
I recently had eye surgery. In fact, week before last, I had eye surgery on my left eye, and this week I have surgery on my next eye. My right eye (because that makes it sound as if I have more eyes than just two…LOL. Like we tend to trick our children by telling them moms have eyes in the back of their heads. Grammas too!) I’m not going to lie, this invasive surgery called crosslinking which is a procedure to help prevent the progression of an eye disease called keratoconus, has been sudden and painful, frustrating and uncomfortable, and the results it has produced so far have been discouraging. And now, with what I know, I am dreading the second surgery, dreaming up ways to avoid it, studying escape-artist manuals, pretending it suddenly will resolve itself and won’t be necessary. I am reminded, life is not for wimps. I haven’t felt this exhausted in quite some time.
As miserable as it has been, it also has caused me to see some things differently—or perhaps more clearly. In fact, on the day of the surgery, while my mom and I attended our church’s weekly prayer service prior to the appointment, I heard the Lord speak to me. I was really feeling very trepidatious and wondering if I was conceding to the right choice, and I heard the Lord tell me it was okay, to proceed and not be fearful, because He was taking me to a new place. In order to go there, He needed to remove more spiritual blinders because He wanted me to see through His lens, to see things—others—the way He sees them. He was allowing what was ahead with the surgeries to share His vision with me.
So, I am overwhelmed and humbled that He would allow me to go on this journey with Him, and I am trying really hard not to wimp out. I don’t know what the Lord wants me to see but I intend to keep my new spiritual eyes wide open, so I don’t miss anything. With that being said, I think I already am understanding that we are near-sighted people. We cannot see far. We don’t have much long-term vision. Where have all the visionaries gone? We do not get the big picture. Gone is the time period where we talked about taking in the whole realm, seeing the big picture, before jumping to all the conclusions life now offers up on a silver screen. Like our instantaneous options, this generation hasn’t been birthed with the ability to take things as they come, make educated decisions and put one foot in front of the other and move in a positive, forward direction. We want it all right now. In fact, we feel entitled to immediate results and fast fixes without consequence.
I think we also forget that God does see the big picture. He takes it all in. Not only does He already know the beginning from the end, He spoke it all into existence. He’s got the whole world in His hands, and not even one minute detail surprises or awes Him. I frequently remind myself that even though our world may feel as if it is spinning out of control, our Father, the God of the Universe, is fully in control. He is not wringing His hands, hands on His hips, saying, “Oh, Myself, how can this be?! What are We going to do about this, Jesus? Holy Spirit, call a board meeting with the elders so We can discuss Our options!”
See, no pun intended, when we look through our lenses, our shuttered eyes, we see city sidewalks spotted with filthy, messed up people, parks speckled with dregs of society passed out on park benches, fancy buildings brimming with elegant people dripping with diamonds, drinks, and drugs mixed with despondency and depression. God sees a harvest. We watch newscasts with video upon video of death and depression and devastation and scroll through our social media addictions, posting fake smiles and false realities. God sees through the thread, past the remnant, to the many who still need a Savior. I see a hiccup, an interruption in my schedule, a time delay. God sees a broken heart.
If I could only see what God sees. If I could only see the me God sees. How many times have we said that? Now He, I believe, is giving me the opportunity to do just that. I don’t want to mess it up. It also means I must listen better. I see these travesties and hear the reports, but it hasn’t caused me yet to dig deep into the spiritual wealth within me and mine the grace and love, forgiveness and compassion, buried down inside. It is time for that to change and the time is now.
I removed my contact lenses for these surgeries. I keep taking my prescription glasses, and my readers off too, because I can’t see, hoping my ability to see has changed. I can’t often hear what is going on around me either, so I find myself putting on and removing my glasses for that too. I laugh at myself, but I wonder, why do we always think we can hear better when we can see better? Is it possibly because the bare-naked reality of humanity is spilling out of seams that have come undone, and up close and personal is where we all are needed to be? Can we become as innocent and untethered as children and see with childlike faith and hear with infant wonder at all that God sees and hears?
I have felt discouraged at the slow results thus far from my first surgery. Impatience, I am sure. Yet there is an awakening inside of me needing to assure that the results produced by the evidence of God’s intentionality in my life are consistent and inspiring and glorifying to the Father. I am believing for a miracle, that I will blink very soon, and see the world as He sees it, and know immediately where He wants me to be and how long He wants me to stay and what He is unearthing from within me to accomplish for other’s good and for His glory.
Isaiah 43:19, ‘”See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”’ (NIV)
2 Corinthians 2:10b: ‘The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God had planned all along.’ (MSG)
