Reality Filters

I could be wrong, but I don’t think you can find this cool lens filter for sale anywhere! I was sitting in my car while the rain fell and the wind blew, and this is what I saw. What was I looking at? My mind knew what was on the other side of the blurry windshield because I had seen it a hundred times before from that very same parking spot. My vision was affected, though, and I wasn’t able to see it clearly. Did that mean that reality on the other side was affected? Of course not. 

How often we look at our present circumstances and allow them to affect our understanding of God and His truth! Something bad happens, and we begin to doubt God’s love for us. Life gets hard or we feel alone, and we begin to doubt that God is with us. We use the lens of what’s going on currently to help us to see, and don’t realize that our lens is cloudy, smudged, and distorted.

There is a better way to see. Replacing the lens of our circumstances with the lens of God’s Word helps us to redefine reality in truth. Jesus prayed for his disciples, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). If we’re not spending time in God’s Word, how will we know what it says? How will we come to understand truth as opposed to current public opinion? How will we correctly view events in our lives? How will we view God’s hand at work if we don’t have the right lens to see it with? How will we know what God wants for our lives?

Read through Psalm 119, and notice how important God’s Word was to David. Here are just a few verses:

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you (verse 11).

Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions (verse 18).

You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees (verse 68).

Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans (verses 89-91).

You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope (verse 114).

Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble (verse 165).

Check your vision–are you using the right reality filter? You can change your lens today, and begin to see more clearly!