Distorted Vision – Clear Vision – plantedbylivingwater

This year, I suffered 3+ months of a nightmare as far as my eyesight was concerned.
My husband got a new vision insurance, so we went to a new place to get our vision needs met. The eye doctor there talked me into getting progressive lenses instead of the trifocals that I requested. He said I would love them.

Unfortunately, that did not end up being true. I hated them. I couldn’t even wear them for one day at a time, much less the couple of weeks that they indicated I should try them before coming back in if they were not working out.

Three months later, I finally discovered that I could wear them in bright sunlight okay, but every time I went into places or situations with lower lighting, I felt like I was looking through a fishbowl.

Long story short, I wore them for over three months before changing to a lined bifocal, which is so much better for me.

The disappointing part is that I could have gotten the bifocals for free–my husband’s insurance would have completely paid the cost. Instead, I paid a lot of money for something I hated, and because I waited too long, (and I don’t remember them telling me there was a deadline, but maybe they did), the company refused to reimburse me the difference, based on their policy, which I didn’t know until it was too late.

While I recognize that companies are allowed to write policies that benefit them, I feel that I suffered distorted vision and all the frustration that came with it at their hands, and being forced to pay for that frustration just doesn’t seem right. I do know that they won’t get my money in the future, because I will be taking my vision needs elsewhere next time.

But backing up to the subject of distorted vision, I wonder how many of us, as representatives of Christ, have burdened with distorted vision those with whom we are supposed to be sharing the Gospel. I wonder how many times we have frustrated them instead of loving them, insisting that truth is more important than love, policy than kindness, justice than mercy, righteousness than patience.

There is a fatal flaw in this legalistic mentality. God is love, and He is truth.He is righteous, and He is patient. He is just, and He is merciful. HE IS NOT DIVIDED!

God’s Love is embodied in His truth, and His truth is embodied in His love. The two cannot be separated.

The Pharisees had truth without love, and they were the ones to whom Christ had the hardest things to say.

That kind of truth is not God’s truth. It is ugly and distorted.

Jesus, on the other hand, “became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory…full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Verses 16 through 18 continue, saying that we have received “grace upon grace”, and that Jesus explained who the Father is by being grace and truth.

“grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” John 1:17b,18 NASB

So, if we are going to represent God correctly so that those around us can have a clear vision of who He is, we need to become more like Jesus ourselves, full of grace and truth, not separating the two and withholding love from the “undeserving” because they are sinning.

We. are. all. undeserving!

Had God withheld His love from us because we were undeserving, we would all still be lost and on our way to hell.

But that’s what His amazing grace is all about, giving to the undeserving a gift they do not deserve.

So, let’s ask God to help us stop giving distorted vision to those around us. Let’s stop the spiritual extortion. Let’s stop sending them looking for a better deal elsewhere when all along God offers the best deal possible.

Let’s remember His kindness to us (Rom. 2:4) and remember to be gracious as He who is the Truth is gracious.

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