Adjust Your Lens Back To the Manufacturer's Prescription

I thank God that I am blessed with great eye sight and perhaps if I was to wear spectacles, my lenses would have no optical power.  On the other hand, those with sight challenges need to use lenses with optical power which help to converge or diverge light and in so doing, clarity of sight is improved.  No child is born with a perfect spiritual eye lense because we are born in sin.  However, the situation is compounded as we grow up.  Our lenses are distorted by life's experiences resulting to blurred vision.  Though retaining the ability to look, we no longer see.  Re-known Christian leader, Myles Munroe stated, "Eyes that look are common but eyes that see are rare."

 A little boy that walks out to play with neighbouring kids who laugh at his unusually big head or long ears suffers lens distortion that leads to a battered self esteem.  A little girl or boy who is physically or sexually abused by a parent, uncle, cousin, next door neighbour or care giver suffers immense lens distortion.  That teenager who is told they are good for nothing at school begins to believe in their inability not only to learn but also to achieve something significant in life.  That father who is perpetually told by his spouse that he is a failure often buys into the narrative, slowly but surely.  The tragedy is that we become what we perceive ourselves to be.  Among the spies sent by Moses to Canaan were ten who saw themselves as grasshoppers, and so they were!

Numbers 13:33- "We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

The Nephilim's were giants but that did not mean that the Hebrew spies were grasshoppers.  Caleb and Joshua were however of another breed, a breed of faith- they chose to not only look at the situation but also to see it in light of Yahweh.  These two men of faith saw the giants, but also acknowledged the greatness of their God.  They saw the challenges that confronted them as an opportunity for God to glorify Himself.  Their lenses remained intact in spite of glaring dangers in the land of promise.

"Let’s go now and take possession of the land. We should be more than able to conquer it." -
Numbers 13:30

"The land we explored is very good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us. This is a land flowing with milk and honey! Don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. We will devour them like bread. They have no protection, and the Lord is with us. So don’t be afraid of them." - Numbers 14:7-9

The consequences of the ten unbelieving spies were dire while Caleb and Joshua on the other hand, reaped an inheritance in the promised land because of their faith.  When your distorted lenses cause you to doubt God and His Word, it displeases the Lord.  Without faith, it is actually impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).  The Lord was angered by the Israelite's unbelief and He said to Moses:

"How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to trust me in spite of all the miraculous signs I have done among them? I’ll strike them with a plague, I’ll destroy them, .... But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has wholeheartedly followed me, I’ll bring him to the land he already explored. His descendants will possess it." - Numbers 14:11-12a, 24

Moses is a unique character in the Bible because he appears as a remarkable man of faith (Hebrews 3:5; 11:23-29; Numbers 12:7) as well as a great example of what distorted lenses can do in the life of a servant of God.  Perhaps Moses' failures serve to encourage us that if he could walk in faith in spite of his shortcomings, so can we.  Firstly, Moses did not consider himself important in God's service.  In fact, as if facing an identity crisis, Moses asks "Who am I ..." in response to God's call for him to go and speak to Pharaoh (Exodus 3:11).  Many believers are experiencing an identity crisis because they do not know who they are in Christ.  Consequently, they are not able to enjoy the riches of their spiritual inheritance.

Moses did not believe that he had power to influence.   He wondered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me ...." (Exodus 4:1).  Just like Moses, many of us doubt our ability to fulfill God's intent for us which is to be fruitful, to increase, to multiply, to be in dominion and to rule (Genesis 1:28).  An almost comical account is recorded about Moses' struggles with accurate perspective of the happenings in his life.  When Moses took a word of deliverance to the Israelites, who were under a heavy burden of torturous labour, they did not listen to him.  The Bible records clearly that the reason they did not listen to Moses was because of their discouragement and hard labour (Exodus 6:9).  However, Moses interprets Israel's response incorrectly and attributes it to his faltering lips (Exodus 6:12).  He actually argues with God's decision to send him to Pharaoh, wondering how God expected him to successfully influence Pharaoh while he had failed to convince his own people.

Moses perceived that his stammering weakness as an impediment to serving God (Exodus 4:10; 6:9; 12:30).  Pitifully, he reminded God that he had never been eloquent in speech.  Many believers just like Moses have been pitying themselves due to their weaknesses, seeking sympathy from God yet His answer has never changed: "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say," (Exodus 4:11-12). Wallowing in thoughts of your inability apart from the providence of God in your life, is not humility but sin.  We actually see God burn in anger at Moses for indulging in thoughts of inability despite God's assurance.  In foolishness, Moses chooses to advised God that Aaron is a better pick- Aaron was more eloquent (Exodus 4:13-14) and older (Exodus 7:7).  The truth is, God chooses the foolish, weak, lowly and despised things of the world to bring to shame the wise, the strong, and to nullify things that are (1 Corinthians 1:27).

The sad truth is that many of us are displeasing God because our distorted lenses continue to yield unbelief and murmuring.  Even more tragic is that some Christians may lose their inheritance if they do not adjust their lenses to see through the eyes of faith.  It is pertinent to know that the faith of a Christian is not an escape from reality or a mere illusion.  Far from it!  Our faith is in the One and Only True God, who is Forever Faithful from one generation to another. You and I need to revisit our Manufacturer's prescription which is God's Word and adjust our lenses accordingly.

Make the following scriptures your prayer as we re-adjust our lenses to see as our Father sees.  Oh help me God!

"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" - John 17:17

"Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes" - Ephesians 4:23 

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalms 19:14