20/20 Vision: Seeing Through the Eye (Glasses) of Faith

“20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet” (American Optometric Association). Not everyone has 20/20 vision. I, for one, have 20/40 vision, which means that I must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 40 feet. For that reason, I wear corrective lenses or eyeglasses.

Interestingly enough, our understanding of how vision works in the natural can also explain how vision works in the spiritual. When it comes to spiritual vision, many of us have poor eyesight; we can’t see what God sees. We can’t see that He has a hope for us or that all of His good promises will come to pass. But if we would just put on the spiritual eyeglasses of faith, we would see with 20/20 clarity what God is trying to show us.

Trust me, when it comes to seeing (let alone writing) the vision, our natural eyesight is deceptive because most times our reality doesn’t line up with what God says will be. I can’t tell you how many times God has said “X” would happen before “X” was even in my peripheral vision. But when I chose to see things through the eyes of faith, my attitude changed, my faith increased, and I started to live as God—not my circumstances—would have me to live.

I was watching Oprah’s Lifeclass the other day. On that particular episode she featured a portion of an interview she did with Jim Carrey in 1997 where he described how visualization led to great success. Incidentally, three years before he was cast for Dumb and Dumber, he literary wrote himself a check for $5M and visualized himself cashing it. Indeed, because of his faith, he was able to cash that check by the date he had written at the top.

Amazing, huh? But if Jim Carrey can visualize a great future, so can you. You, too, have the power to “write your own check” if you start visualizing God’s great plan for your life. Of course, seeing things through the eyes of faith is no easy feat and you certainly can’t do it in your own strength.  Therefore, pray to God for the supernatural ability to see the invisible future.

John Maxwell says, “It almost impossible to separate faith and vision” because faith is future-oriented and always focused on the vision. This statement isn’t implying that faith disconnects from the present, on the contrary. In fact, faith makes the NOW more enjoyable because you know that today is simply preparation for what is to come!

As I was writing this post, I received a text of confirmation from Dr. David Anderson that read, ”Faith is believing that God is going to do what He said He would do. When and how He does it is His business. Believing that He will is ours!” Amen.

The eleventh chapter of Hebrews, often call the “Hall of Faith” features the faith superstars. Verse 13 tells us that, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them.” And they lived like the race was won because they could see the finish through the eyes of faith.

Remember with God all things are possible,

Dr. Celeste

216 books sold, 9,784 to go (For an explanation of these stats please see post One Year – 10000 books)

Comments are welcome. Also, please subscribe to have this weekly post sent directly to your Inbox.

Copyright © 2011 by Dr. Celeste Owens. All rights reserved.