MARITAL NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS: Using The Eyeglasses of Faith!

“Why is it so hard for me to see this last set of silhouettes”, I said to myself, trying to refocus my already watering eyes. I was on the M16 rifle range in Fort Sill, Oklahoma trying to qualify as a ‘sharpshooter’ on the range during Army Basic Training. I had already qualified as a ‘marksman’ but I wanted to have the expert or at least the sharpshooter badge on my uniform. But now I was having trouble ‘seeing the target’. The watery eyes from the strain of focusing, the glare from the sun, even the wind were all distractions. I couldn’t get a good sense of the target. “Blam!...Blam!…Blam! I fired off my last three rounds in disgust. Marksman again. Thank God it was only another practice run. But the real deal would be upon me at midweek. “I hope they’re in by then”, I said.

I’d mastered & excelled in every task in BT (Basic Training) and was recognized as a leader by the entire cadre. The range, however, was really kicking my butt and I didn’t really know why. I had always been a pretty good shot with most any kind of weapon. I’d already gone to my friends and asked them if they’d had trouble seeing the 300m target. They said that they didn’t have trouble seeing it…just trouble hitting the darn thing! Then they came in.

I’d taken an eye exam during entry and although I passed the exam, my Drill Sergeant suggested that I get my eyes checked again since I was having so much trouble with the 300m target. I did. They said I was slightly near-sighted and prescribed me military issue eyewear. Man they were ugly! But Wednesday, when we went to the range to qualify…WOW! It was as if I had never truly seen anything. Everything was so crystal clear and sharp. And everything looked a little bit…closer! Well needless to say I did make sharpshooter and missed making expert by one shot! And I’ll never forget that lesson. Every goal looks clearer, closer and attainable with the right ‘glasses’ on.

In a lot of marriage counseling sessions, we have people who will come in and say, ‘I just don’t ‘see’ how our marriage is going to work out. I don’t ‘see’ how anything is going to change.’ And let’s be real for a minute here. If a person can’t 'see' a better future for their marriage, how can they move toward a better future? Have you ever entered an unfamiliar room and as you entered it, the lights went out? What’s the first thing you did? I’d bet a paycheck, you stopped dead in your tracks, didn’t you?! Without a clear vision of where they’re going, people usually will refuse to move forward in anything or toward any goal. And if the room stays dark or fuzzy long enough, they will usually want to leave that room for one that’s not so ‘sight-challenged’. This is true even if the room has everything in it that they need to be successful. It is the same within a marriage. If a spouse feels the present status of their marriage is one of darkness, despair, depression, arguments & disagreements, selfishness & self-centeredness, they will refuse to go forward & most likely want to exit the marriage. However the bible instructs us all that, as children of the Most High, to use a different kind of 'sight' by which we 'move! (2 Cor 5:7)' We need to ‘see’ our marriages through a new set of ‘glasses’. And the ‘glasses’ that God has issued to us and to ‘you’ are the eyeglasses of ‘Faith’! You need to see your marriage not as it is, but as God says He can make it! If only you would come into agreement with Him on it! God wants you to be successful in everything you do! You must believe that this includes your marriage too! You must ‘see’ your marriage’s future the way God wants it to be through faith in Him! Faith is the optical assistance you need to move toward THAT marriage!

The book of Romans has something to say about the 20/20 vision of Faith. Romans 4:17 reminds us that God has the natural ability to ‘call those things that be not, as though they were’. He doesn’t see things as though they were ‘far off & long in coming’ but God calls them as in the ‘Here & Now’. As God’s children, Genesis 1:26-27 says that He made us similar to Him. John 14:12 promises that believers will do the same works, if not greater, than the works of Christ on earth because He goes to the Father and intercedes for us. Got yo’ glasses on yet! We have the same ability if we come into agreement with the Word of God to ‘see’ our future the way God sees it! Stop looking at what it ‘is’ and start calling it what it ‘will be’. Put your faith-glasses on in full effect!

In Isaiah 55:11, God says His Word will not return to Him void (empty, unfulfilled, and unaccomplished) . Speak His Word back to Him and you will begin to ‘see’ a change in your marriage & your family. Mighty Man of Valor, Virtuous Woman of God, Obedient Sons & Daughters of the Royal Priesthood! A peculiar people! Ya’ll feeling me yet! This is what we and our families truly are! Write out His instructions in your heart (study) and watch God make the ‘vision’ plain so that you who ‘see’ it can run with it! And hey, I’ll even kick this one off. If your marriage stinks right now & doesn’t look like things are gonna get any better, we understand! My wife & I have been there before. It took almost eight years in the beginning for the vision we first saw of how our marriage ‘could be’, to arrive. Here was the promise God gave us as we ‘locked’ our faith-glasses on. Jeremiah 29:11 says: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you (Michael & Liz), saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Can you see what He sees now? Now that’s what I call 'hitting the target in the bullseye!' I’ll Holla! Ya’ll holla back! Much Love & Be Blessed. ---Rev.