Perception is the key. . .

For the majority of my life I have never been concerned about my eyesight.  I have had better than 20/20 vision for the better part of 40 years.  I have been told constantly by those who are older than I that the moment I turn 40, it's all down hill, but as of yet I still have no problems with my sight.  My wife and son, on the other hand, are different stories. 

Both Davina & Jordan have been forced to wear corrective lenses (either glasses or contacts) for as long as either of them can remember.  I never even stopped to think about the qualifications of the eye doctor making decisions about my families sight.  We went to the eye doctor, he said they needed glasses, he determined the proper prescription of the lens necessary to correct their sight, and we took the green slip of paper to a retailer who then shaped lenses to fit that prescription.  From that process my wife and my son gained a different perception based upon the eye doctor's prescription.  If you've ever seen an eyeglass prescription you know that a numeric value preceded by a positive (+) or negative (-) sign determines how the lenses are shaped, assisting with ones ability to see properly, correcting either farsightedness or nearsightedness.  None of this was of particular concern for me until today.

My son went for his eye doctor's appointment today.  After his examination, the doctor told my wife and son that he was never to put those particular glasses on again.  Apparently when they were made, they were made to the wrong prescription.  The doctor who wrote the prescription misplaced the sign.  In other words, my son who is far-sighted has been wearing glasses made for someone who was near-sighted for over a year and a half.  He's had headaches, his eyes have hurt and this past baseball season, although he took his glasses off when he played, because of the prolonged usage of inappropriate eyewear, his depth perception was inhibited and he struggled to hit the ball with any consistency.  His perception was determined by simply a positive OR negative denotation on a prescription.

Now once my blood stopped boiling and we determined where the fault lies and restitution is in the process of being made, I began to thinking how much our perception is determined by a positive OR negative outlook on life.  If you are someone who is constantly dwelling on the negative things in life then your perception on every event, every action, every relationship is going to be tainted toward the negative.  But if you tend to see things in a positive light, your perception improves.  The negative view causes you to be near-sighted in life, focusing on all the minutia, becoming critical of everyone and everything around you.  But when you have a positive perception, you are able to see the big picture.  You can see God's hand at work, preparing you for things that lie ahead, even when up close things may not always appear that way.  Our perception is the key.

So - are you viewing life from a myopic near-sighted perspective, only seeing the problems and issues that you are facing right now.  OR are you looking through positive eyes, faith-filled eyes, where you are dreaming of a future that God is preparing the way for you to inhabit.  It may be time for an eye-check.  You may need a new prescription and if so, make sure that you don't ever put the old one back on.  Let God's perception of your life become your perception and it won't be long before you will be walking in the favor and faith of a greater future than what you can see right now. 

God bless you as you look ahead to a great future that God has planned just for you! -- RP