Seeing Better Than 20/20
by Karen Hossink
I have very good eye sight. For years I have impressed my husband with the distance at which I can read signs. When we are traveling, it is always my job to watch for the road signs and make sure we don't miss our turns. I like my good eye sight. It makes me feel valuable. I didn't realize until recently, however, just how amazing my eye sight really is.
Like I said, I can make out road signs from a good distance away, but a short time ago I discovered I could see something even smaller. It was a speck in my husband's eye. It was really quite small, but I could still see it.
He had this habit that annoyed me. I'm not quite sure why it bothered me, as no one else appeared to be affected by it. They didn't even seem to notice. But it really irritated me. Many times I just could not fathom why no one else was aggravated by this speck like I was. I guess no one else has eye sight quite as wonderful as mine.
And believe me, my eye sight is remarkable. Why just the other day, I realized something even more staggering than the fact that I could see the little speck in my husband's eye. My eye sight is so astounding that I could see right past a plank in my own eye and was still able to spot that tiny speck in my husband's eye.
While I continued to be impressed with my keen eye sight, I realized there was a problem. It worried me greatly to consider there was something which could be hindering my view which might make my wonderful eye sight less, uh, wonderful. So I asked God how it got there. How did this piece of lumber make its way into my eye? Where, oh where, did it come from? And all He said to me was, Look at it. That's it. Nothing profound. Just, Look at it.
So I looked at it. I looked at that plank for a long time. And the strangest thing happened. The more I looked at the plank in my eye, the clearer it became in my view. But as the plank got clearer the speck in my husband's eye became fuzzy to me.
At first I was frightened. I thought my sight was going bad and I began to panic. As quickly as I could I turned away from the plank and stopped looking at it. I didn't want to ruin my remarkable vision.
But God gently chided me, No, darling. Don't turn away. You must keep looking at it. I want you to use your good eye sight to figure out the plank. If you don't understand, just ask Me. I'll give you a hint.
So I focused on the plank again and just like before, as the plank became clear the speck got fuzzy. And I got nervous and turned away. "I don't get it, Lord. I need help."
You need to understand, child.
"I know I need to understand, God. That's why I'm asking for help!"
No, sweetheart. You need to understand him.
"I need to underwhat who?"
Come on, Karen. I know you can figure this out.
And as I looked at God, and at the plank, and back at God, and then over to my husband, I did figure it out. The "him" I needed to understand was my husband.
I had been so concerned with the speck in my husband's eye. I was so busy getting annoyed by his habit that I had failed to pay attention to him. My husband and I spent a lot of time talking that afternoon. I apologized for failing to understand him and I cried quite a bit. I think the tears may have helped loosen the plank. Now I'm trying harder to pay attention to my beloved, to understand him, and honor him.
But in the midst of this understanding and removing the plank from my eye, I ran to God in another panic. "Lord, Lord, what's happening? My eye sight is getting worse! I think the plank is coming out, but now that speck in my husband's eye has gotten terribly blurry. I thought removing the plank was going to improve things for me. What's going on?"
And with a tender smile the Lord held my face in His hands and spoke to me. My dear child, everything is OK. Your eye sight is fine. This is exactly the way things should be going. That speck in Brian's eye is getting blurry because you're learning to see his heart more than his habits. Your sight is improving, darling. When you understand him, you can see inside of him!
How is your eye sight today? Is it being impaired by a plank? Ask the Lord to reveal it to you, and don't be afraid of the changes in your view when it comes out. Believe me, my husband has never looked better to me than he does now!
Copyright © 2009 – Karen Hossink. All rights reserved.
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