Spiritual Myopia: an Article Written by my Father.

While Christmas time should be one of the happiest and joyful times of the year, it can also be one of the most stressful. Finding the right present, being able to afford what you want to buy, fighting the holiday crowds, and rushing to visit family and friends can all cause each of us to forget what this holiday is really about. Other factors, such as painful memories, joblessness, or illnesses are also things that can take away the joy that each of us should feel as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and cause us to lose our focus. Having a blurred vision of God however is not something that only happens during the holiday season. In fact I believe many Christians today suffer from a condition that I call, “Spiritual Myopia.”
In the 18th chapter of 1 Kings, the bible tells about how the prophet Elijah had told King Ahab that it would not rain in Israel. For over three years Israel did not see any rain because the country was not doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Worship of false gods was rampant everywhere. Elijah had a confrontation with 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mount Carmel and after the fire of the Lord consumed his sacrifice and all the false prophets were killed, Elijah told King Ahab to get ready for there was the sound of a mighty rain. He then began to pray and told his servant to go look for rain. Seven times his servant went to look and on the seventh time he came back and told Elijah all he saw was one small cloud the size of a man’s hand. Elijah however sent word to Ahab and told him to hitch up his chariot and ride, because the rain was coming. So what did Elijah see that his servant could not? What was the servant’s problem?
The servant was suffering from “Spiritual Myopia.” The American Heritage Dictionary says that myopia is a visual defect in which distant objects appear blurred because their images are focused in front of the retina rather than on it. This can be called nearsightedness. It is also a term which refers to someone who is shortsighted in their thinking or planning. So “Spiritual Myopia” then refers to someone who has a blurred image of God or of what God can accomplish.
Let me give you another example. In the 13th chapter of Numbers Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land. All twelve saw the same thing. When they returned ten of the spies reported that they had seen giants in the land that were bigger and more powerful then they were. Two of the spies however had a totally different view of what they had seen. Chapter 14:5-9 states, “Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among those who had torn their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly: “The Land we passed trough and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
Wow! How could Joshua and Caleb see things so differently than the other ten? It is because they were not blinded by what they saw, but looked beyond the problem to the solution. They knew if God was pleased with them, He would give them the land. Their eye sight was not blurred and the vision that God gave each of them was perfectly clear.
I remember watching the movie “Jaws.” There was a scene in which Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss and the captain of the fishing boat were out to sea looking for, at this point, an unseen shark. Roy is standing at the edge of the boat and as he looked into the water this huge Great White shark rises up out of the water and Roy is face to face with a problem he was not totally expecting and prepared for. His response at this point is classic. He states, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat!”
This is the same thing we each need to do when faced with adversity. We need to look past our problems to the solution. It is not that our problems are too big. The problem is that our vision of God is not big enough. Jesus told us in John16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” We have to have faith. Hebrews 11:1 states, “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Remember: Nebuchadnezzer saw a fiery furnace, but the three Hebrew boys saw a sauna they would share with Jesus. Goliath saw a little shepherd boy with a slingshot, but David saw someone who he knew was not any more of a threat than the lion and the bear he had already defeated. The children of Israel saw a sea trapping them for the approaching army of Pharoah, while Moses saw an escape path through the water. Some saw a young girl with her baby in a manger under a bright shining star, while God saw a need to send His son to save the world.
So as we celebrate Christmas this year let us focus on what the true meaning is instead of how big our problems are. Proverbs 29:18 states, “Where there is no vision the people perish…” How big is your vision...

How big is your God?

Article written by Michael Conrad. Edited for publish in Faith Like Feathers by Kevin Conrad.