Help, I Can’t See!

Winter driving. It’s a whole thing. Snow. Ice. Slush. And don’t forget the lovely salt/dirt combo that coats every car traveling winter roadways in Ohio. What a mess! Thank goodness for windshield washer fluid! Have you ever been out driving on slushy roads and run out of washer fluid? It is quite possibly one of the worst things that can happen. I don’t know if it’s just me or if everyone is VERY bothered by looking through that nasty dry mud/saltwater combo that dries on the windshield. It drives me nuts. Last week I ran out of fluid while I was out, and I didn’t have any in the car. I knew we had some at home, and I planned to ask the hubby about refilling it when we got home. But I forgot… until the next morning, when we were rushing off to school, late of course. No time to stop for washer fluid. So, I had to drive around with a dirty windshield for most of the day.

As I struggled to peer through my dirty window while driving on an especially bright, sunny day, I thought about the things in life that can cloud proper vision. For me, most often it’s my feelings that cloud my judgment. Sometimes it’s fear. Sometimes it’s anxiety. Often, it’s past hurts. All these things can color the way we see what’s coming at us in life. They keep us from seeing clearly; they distort our view of events and circumstances, just like a dirty windshield in the car on a bright sunny day. It’s hard to see clearly through all that grime, whether it’s made of salt and mud, or wild emotions.

This is why God’s Word is so vital to us. We need the eyes of our hearts enlightened (Eph 1:18) so that our perceptions are not colored only by our emotional responses. Time in God’s Word keeps me seeing clearly. Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” When I spend time in the Word, I can have my vision cleared so that I can see people and situations the way God sees them. Yes, he gave us feelings to guide us, but we must always remember that even though the world encourages us to follow our hearts, the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” When feelings arise, it is so important to recognize them and unpack where they are coming from. But it is equally important to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). If my feelings don’t align with what God’s Word says is true, then I cling to his word and tell my feelings to pipe down!

May the eyes of our hearts be enlightened today as we seek to look at life through the lens of God’s Word, and not through the dirty windshield of our past experiences and emotions.