visually impaired

When I turned 40, my 20-20 eyesight took a permanent leave of absence.  My arms were somehow shortened since I could no longer hold books far enough away to read the fine print...then it was the bold print.  Then those road signs began to resemble modern art more than directional aids.  And eventually, seeing friends at a distance meant that I was greeting virtual strangers.  For some time, I was in denial: squinting my eyes, twisting my head, moving forward.  Finally, I acknowledged my relative blindness and got some glasses, and all is well (though my vanity has me in invisible frames).

As we pray over the long haul for our friends and family that they would come to see Jesus, we need to acknowledge that they, and we, are, of ourselves, visually impaired.  Paul says of his people, the Jews, that a veil covers their hearts, preventing them from hearing God's Testimony to Himself in His Word, and from seeing Him Who is their Lord, and ours (2 Corinthians 3:15).  As with our physical eyesight, so in the life of the spirit they are visually impaired.  Our forcibly trying to get them to see - chastising them, haranguing them, cajoling them - is as useless as our vain attempts to remedy our visual impairment.

Instead, we need to pray and to model how we and they find spiritual sight:  whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16).  We can join Paul who prays for them and us that the eyes of [our] heart may be enlightened so that [we] may know the hope to which He has called [us], the riches of His glorious Inheritance in His Holy People, and His incomparably great Power for us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19).

Jesus is the Great Eye Doctor of the body and the spirit.  Let's ask Him to do His Miracle Work for us all.