BY DAWN REED

It was the strangest thing: All of a sudden, she looked older. Much older. Her face was all wrinkly. She saw it every time she looked in the mirror. 

And her legs…they had varicose veins! Everywhere. Why, she’d never noticed those. Something strange must have happened during the surgery. She would need to mention it all to her doctor when she went for a follow-up.

Mrs. Wright just had cataracts removed. Now she was seeing things she’d never seen before.

I giggled a little when I heard the story. I haven’t had problems with cataracts yet, but without my bifocal glasses or multi-focal contacts, I wouldn’t know if you were a human or an animal. 

I love stories in the Bible about when people received their sight. There’s the mud and spit story (John 9), blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10), and Saul was blind for three days. Something like scales fell off his eyes (Acts 9). Sounds like cataracts to me.

One of the best seeing stories is found in 2 Kings Chapter 6. The king of Aram was at war with Israel. He made battle plans with his officers. Before each of his attacks, the prophet Elisha warned the king of Israel of the plot so he would be on guard, thwarting the enemy’s plans. The king of Aram was enraged, thinking a traitor was in the camp. He summoned his leaders and demanded to know what was going on. Someone spilled the beans: Elisha, the prophet, knew every word the king of Aram spoke.

The king of Aram ordered Elisha to be found and captured. When he was told Elisha was in Dothan, he sent horses, chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. 

Early the next morning, Elisha’s servant went out. When he looked up, there was the army of Aram. “Oh no! What shall we do?” he asked Elisha. 

“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Here’s the best part: Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Gives. Me. Chills.

The LORD opened the servant’s eyes so he could see things more clearly. He can still do that today. We can be blinded by many things besides cataracts: sin, emotions, jealousy, fear, etc. A great way to help our spiritually impaired vision is by looking at our circumstances through the lenses of God’s Word. The Psalmist wrote: “Open my eyes to see wonderful things in Your Word,” Psalm 119:18. Reading it each day sheds light in the darkness, gives direction for life. Psalm 119:105 reminds me, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” I need a light on my path.

In Ephesians 1:18-19, Paul wrote from prison: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you…and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” I want some of that!