Have you ever heard of tunnel vision? Tunnel vision is a condition in which your sight becomes defective. Your view is limited because the object of your focus has become limited to a single object. Perspective becomes blurred and usually anxiety and an inability to think objectively soon follows.
I recently had to spend several days with my dad in the hospital because he had open-heart surgery. Three of those were in ICU, followed by several days in a regular hospital room followed by another two weeks in a rehab facility. If you’ve ever spent time in a hospital yourself or with a loved one you know the eerie feeling of loosing track of time, space and simply what day it is. One day seems to run into another while you focus on your loved one’s recovery, rarely leaving their side except maybe to get something to eat in the hospital cafeteria.
On one of these days my mom decided to take the opportunity for a respite by staying on the 9th floor of the main floor hospital that had been converted to a hotel for those with family members in care. We got on the elevator not knowing what to expect from a hospital hotel but the elevator opened revealing a beautifully decorated lobby with an entire wall of unrestricted windows revealing a spectacular view of the city below, blue sunny skies, fluffy clouds, sidewalks lined with trees and park like settings all around. My great niece who had come along with us was wowed by the view, she said, “I can’t believe all that is down there, I would have never known.” I was wowed at that point, I took in the view and thought to myself, how limited our view can become sometimes, it made me wonder about what we miss along the way. What beauty may be all around but because of our perspective we can’t see beyond our circumstance or beyond today. I can say with all most certainty that your today does not necessarily reflect your tomorrow, next week or even next year.
Romans 8:25 says this: But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Hope is a precious thing. Hope says, I believe there is more, hope causes us to look beyond what we see today, and with faith, believe that we will see what we have hope for.
Hebrews 11:1 says this: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
I don’t know what may be in your line of sight today but I encourage you to step back and see it from a different view. Allow the spirit of God to refresh you with hope beyond your current vision. Let him shower you with courage and strength to see beyond. You just don’t know what beauty may be out there waiting on you.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for today. I may not understand my current situation but I believe that you are Good and that you have good things for me. Open my eyes to see what you see, in Jesus Name. Amen.