So I got new glasses this past week. I’ll spare you the whole story-just know that I should’ve had something in or on my eyes for quite a while now. I knew my eyes were bad, but I guess I didn’t realize how bad.
I guess that happens when your eyes get adjusted to seeing things in a certain way-you don’t always realize that maybe you’re not getting the full picture. And sometimes things you used to see clearly get a bit fuzzy and you figure that it’s just the way it will be or is supposed to be.
So after getting my prescription, I had to find frames. As a girl, that can be quite a process, and it was. Thankfully, I had a friend with me who gave me great advice. After about 20 minutes of “What do you think of these? How about these ones? Let me send a picture to my mom.” I decided on a simple black plastic frame.
Sometimes we need other people’s perspectives and opinions. A lot of times people on the outside of our situations can see things we can’t see or even choose not to see. After the process of listening and sorting through everything, it usually ends up that the solution is pretty simple.
Well, I had the prescription and the frames, and now I just had to wait for everything to be put together. Last step? Lenses. And waiting.
It seems that waiting is part of everything, especially if you want the package deal. You can have a prescription and frames, but without lenses, your sight won’t change at all. It would be pretty ridiculous to walk around with empty frames on your face, expecting them to change the way you see things.
The night I went to get my glasses, I was SO excited. I was wondering how much my vision would change and what it would be like to have something on my face again. I even honestly wondered if the prescription would actually work. The man at the vision center asked me to put them on to check if any adjustments needed to be made before I left.
I think that’s important sometimes. It’s so easy to be super excited about getting what you’ve waited for, that sometimes you overlook something that might be important to change before you move forward. We need people in our lives to slow us down and ask if there’s anything that needs to be adjusted, especially people who are able to help in that adjusting process.
I’ve been wearing my glasses for a week now, it’s amazing how much better I can see. People will tell you that I will very frequently blurt out a “Wow! I can see! I’m so glad I can actually see!” I know that might sound kind of obvious, but for so long I didn’t have anything to compare my sight with. I became fine with the way I saw things (even though I knew something needed to change). And now, with a prescription that helped correct that, I wonder why I waited so long! There is such a difference.
My roommate told me the other day that when we have poor vision, our brain tends to overcorrect things to compensate for the things that aren’t clear and when we get glasses or something to help our vision, it takes time for our brain to stop that straining-to realize that we have an aid in seeing things more clearly.
And it got me thinking: so many times I have a certain way of thinking or seeing things and I don’t really have anything to compare it to. Then I read Scripture or hear a great sermon or listen to someone with a different view and my brain has to adjust to what it’s heard. Especially if it is solid truth that I need in my life, I wonder why I waited so long to accept it.
Seeing through the lens of truth makes everything more clear. Praise God we have the Holy Spirit living inside us, Who leads us into all truth. Praise God that we don’t have to do it alone.
“I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways… Open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your law.” ~Psalm 119:15, 18