Our eyes are stunning creations of God. Amazing beyond imagination. Several times over the past 26 years of ministry I have had people take a survey concerning which of the five senses they would give up last. No one wants to give up even one, but sight is almost always the last sense people are willing to lose, with hearing running the tight second place.
The wonder, power, and privilege of sight is mentioned throughout scripture. Sight is also one of the most common spiritual metaphors used in scripture to indicate our sensitivity to the will of God and the integrity or our spiritual journey.
But there is a compelling passage in Matthew 6:22-23 that has been so unsettling to me over the years. It reads,
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!It is that last sentence that grips me. How in the world could the light within me actually be darkness?
I think a spiritual answer could come from our physical eyesight. Our ability to see in the dark is actually amazing, but we all experience that time of adjustment when we are unsure and stumbling. We slow way down because we realize that at least for the time being, we do not have full access of our ability to see. This adjustment period is a stunning and complex coordination of electrical impulses, chemical interactions, muscular and neurological functions, and on the list goes.
Our eyes are attempting to catch up with our desire to see clearly. Once we are in a dark room or setting for very long, our eyes adjust to the conditions, and we move forward as best we can. We all recognize that some important responsibilities can still be carried out when it is dark, like driving at night. But it is also certain that attempting to live in the dark is not optimum!
Jesus even said, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light” (John 11:9-10).
In the "Ideal Test" of decision-making, our first and most important concern is receiving Biblical clarity for the decisions with which we are faced. But often times we are not accustomed to deeply considering the Word of God for our daily lives. We make relationship decisions without the authority of the Word, and then we scramble to the Word to find some help to get out of a bad situation. It is not wrong whatsoever to come to the Word of God in times of desperation to find help, solace and guidance. But if we make a lifestyle out of only coming to the Bible when we are looking for a quick fix, how can we truly benefit from its light. We have allowed the light of scripture to grow dim and we may not even know how dim it has become.
There is simply no substitute for the wisdom and guidance of the Word of God, but it must find a willing heart and a hungry soul in order to have its fullest effect of enlightening our way.
- Don McLaughlin
