Last week I drove down to my hometown in the suburbs of Chicago on Saturday for a run honoring my brother. After the race on Sunday husband John warned me that I needed to get on the road back to Minneapolis early because of my “condition”.
I have “night blindness” which means I have no depth perception when it gets dark. My perspective is flat. Skewed. I can’t tell how far or close things are (You know, like cars, or stoplights, or the shoulder of the road – the little things.) And I can’t anticipate turns in the road. So when I didn’t leave Chicago until after 1:00 and hit bad traffic it meant driving the last two hours in deep darkness.
In the dark my eyes play tricks on me. My emotions play tricks on me. It feels kind of like being on that Disney World roller coaster in the dark that has a name with “Terror” in the title. There are times when I’m sure I’m driving off the road into certain destruction. Really.
For anyone, in the days of loss – loss of person, job, dream – weird shapes loom and threaten in the darkness. It can feel very scary. Nothing is certain. Life feels unpredictable.
As I concentrated hard and prayed, it struck me how all of us have “night blindness” . Whether it’s the dark of discouragement and challenging circumstances, or the illusion of control and self-sufficiency, or a hill on the route of our personal marathon, we don’t see things as they really are – as only God sees them.
As we pray, “Lord, help me to see as You see”, the “night-vision goggles” He gives us is His Word.
By your words I can see where I’m going;they throw a beam of light on my dark path. Psalm 119:105
You’re blessed when you stay on course,
walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow his directions,
doing your best to find him….
Oh, that my steps might be steady,
keeping to the course you set…Psalm 119:1-6
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
grace me with your clear revelation.
I choose the true road to Somewhere,
I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
. Psalm 119:29-30
Even when our limited vision may threaten to confuse us, God’s vision is clear and true.
I am encouraged, too, by Mark Batterson’s reminder:
“God wants us to get where God wants us to go more than we want to get where God wants us to go.”
So what does your day or week look like? I’m reminded not to try to see too far down the road. Together maybe we can look to God’s Word and just trust Him for the next curve today.*
*This is not easy-peasy, I know. If interested, you might want to take a look at this post too.
For someone (me) who is a long term planner and often disappointed that things don’t work out as I envisioned, I applaud this reminder to take one step at a time with God and watch more closely for His guidance. Too often I am laser focused on the outcome and am too impatient to listen to the message He gives me along the journey.
Ahhh! I’m a “planner” too! I’m afraid it’s the desire for control that is manifested in plans. I’ve been inspired by the thought from “Your Word is a lamp to my feet…” thinking about that image – a lamp for our feet is just going to illuminate the next steps ahead, not a mile down the road. 🙂