VISION NOT BY SIGHT

VISION NOT BY SIGHT DEVOTIONAL

This week’s devotional “Vision Not By Sight But By Feeling” talks about the times where we cannot see clearly what we should do and we can find ourselves making decisions by following our feelings.  As we mature, we will make decisions based upon our past experience.  Again our past experience cannot always provide a clear path.  So what should we do?  

VISION…………….
Not By Sight But By Feeling

THOUGHT:

In the book of Revelation, John is given a vision by God of the future of the earth and its inhabitants. The vision describes the future as it relates to the end of the earth as we know it, the trials and tribulations of the end days, and the beauty of our eternal life in Heaven.

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. —Revelation 1:9—

A long, long time ago, as a child, I played the accordion. I started out on a tiny child-sized instrument and as skills improved (and I grew stronger), advanced to an adult-sized accordion. On the accordion, the right hand (or treble hand) is like a “shortened” piano keyboard. You can “see” the keys easily. Yet, the left-hand buttons (keys) are not visible AT ALL. By the time I had advanced to a mature instrument, the left-hand keyboard was comprised of 120 buttons. Initially, it was so difficult. You see (no pun intended), learning to play the left-hand buttons was strictly a “blind” endeavor. The only way to know where all the keys were was by FEELING middle C which is either an “indented” key or often, as in my case, a tiny, raised zirconium “dot” on top of middle C. There were also two other “marked” buttons that designed the boundaries for certain key ranges. So, playing the keys successfully did not depend on sight at all, but only by memorization and touch. It was not a matter of seeing them but relying on feeling them.

Sometimes in life, we don’t have a clear vision of what is to come or what the future holds. Our decisions are often based on what we feel. Or we make decisions based on boundaries we have learned. Think of a child’s decisions. They are impulsive. They usually don’t put any forethought into their choices. They only know what they want and then make a decision to do whatever they need to in order for their needs to be met.

As adults though, hopefully we have learned to base our decisions on what we have learned in our life’s experiences. A small child may run across the street without looking but an adult would look both ways before crossing. A small child may eat an entire box of chocolates in one sitting yet an adult (especially an older adult such as myself) will be much more conservative and dole out the chocolates in a reasonable and thoughtful manner.

When John was given the vision by God, he was certainly a little confused by what everything meant. Yet, he knew it was a gift from God and the meaning would ultimately be “seen” or realized as time unfurled. Although he may or may not have completely understood the vision, John knew a few things – God is omnipotent, God teaches us how to make decisions based on the laws and love of God, and God gave John the vision because He knew that John would declare this vision as The Word of God to all mankind.

As Christians, just like the left hand of an accordion, we cannot always SEE or know what is to come. Yet, like John, if we trust God and listen to His Word as our guideline, we can make informed and divinely inspired decisions. I could never see the buttons/keys on the left hand but with the appropriate markers and relying on boundaries, was able to know exactly where I needed to be, to move, and to play.

There is a quote by Helen Keller, who happens to be blind and deaf, that goes as follows:

“The infinite wonders of the universe are revealed to us in exact measure as we are capable of receiving them. The keenness of our vision depends not on how much we can see, but on how much we feel.”

PRAYER:

Thank you God for the Bible, Your Divine Word. Thank you for John’s vision in Revelation. Thank you for giving us the boundaries that help us feel our way through our lives. Help us to feel Your Love and feel confident in our decisions that are based on that Love.

ENJOYED VISION NOT BY SIGHT?

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