Vision For The New Year

December 29, 2022

Melissa Valerio

How’s your vision? Has it become better or worse in the last several years? Isn’t it funny (not funny) how the older we get, the worse our vision gets? Well, here’s an interesting thought. Vision isn’t just the ability to see physical things. Vision is also the ability to see spiritual things. It’s not hard to see God everywhere. Just look at nature. The Earth itself, and everything in it, created by God alone. The organized structure of the atmosphere needed to sustain life on this planet is just too “coincidental”, wouldn’t you think? Just like a library shelf with books organized by classification isn’t coincidental at all. And not just in the physical things around us, but in our consciences as well. That sense of “right and wrong” buried deep within us. Where did that come from? God our creator.  

Because God is spirit and we are human, we can’t see Him with our physical eyes, but rather we need to perceive Him through our spirit. There is a whole other world all around us that is alive and active, but without spiritual lenses, we won’t be able to see it. 2 Kings 6: 8-17 tells the story of the prophet Elisha who, with his servant, was surrounded by the Aramean army. The army was sent to capture them because of Elisha’s spiritual gift of insight into the king’s plans. Each time the king planned an attack, God would tell Elisha, who would then tell the opposing king. Obviously, this angered the Aramean King, and so he sent his army to capture them. But as they were surrounded by the army, Elisha’s servant panicked and said, “What are we going to do?” Elisha responded “‘Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than with them. Then Elisha prayed, ‘LORD, open his eyes and let him see.’ So, the LORD opened the eyes of the young man and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.” (MEV) In that moment, God allowed the servant to see the army of angels surrounding them. Something that Elisha was able to see all along. Chariots of fire ready for battle! I think about that when worry and fear creep into my heart. I think about what it would look like to close my eyes for a moment and then open them up to see a host of angels surrounding me. Protecting me, helping me, cheering me on. What would it look like if God lifted the veil and allowed you to see the spirit world all around you? I know for me, I would collapse in holy fear!!  

Vision is also the ability to see into eternity. Vision is what keeps us pressing on toward the prize, as the apostle Paul puts it in Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (MEV) The prize Paul is talking about is the promise of life with Jesus for eternity. Even Jesus, Himself, had vision. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (MEV) Jesus was looking beyond the cross, to what would be accomplished by the cross. His joy was in the effects of the cross — being with God the Father for eternity AND bringing all His people back to Himself. His love for us and obedience to God the Father kept Him pressing forward, knowing He would be beaten and crucified before tasting victory. So, for us, with one more year at a close and ready for the next year to be shuffled in, let us be a people that grow in spiritual vision, even if our physical vision fades. So that by this time next year, we see more of God all around us. From the stars in the sky that we see with our eyes, to the future in heaven that we see with our spirit.  

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we want to see more of You. Show us more of You in the everyday details of life. Show us more of You in our hearts. Show us more of You on the pages of the Bible. Open our eyes, lift the veil, and soften our hearts to receive everything You want to show us. 

Action: Take a good look around, wherever you are right now. Identify 2-3 things that display God’s glory. I will go first — I’m sitting at my dining room table, and I see: 

 1) A vase of flowers in the kitchen. Lord, I see Your handiwork in the beauty of these flowers. The assorted colors and shapes are amazing, thank You!  

 2) The tablecloth here on the table with a macaroni & cheese print on it. Lord, You are so funny to think of putting macaroni & cheese cartoon characters on a tablecloth, thank You! 

 3) This computer that I’m typing on. Lord, You are incredibly smart to have designed and created such a complex piece of technology. Thank You that I can share my thoughts and ideas with the world through this type of technology. Now it’s your turn 🙂