Straining To See

My eyes strain to see the clock across the kitchen where it’s been plainly visible. I misdial the number to the insurance company because I misread the fine print. I ask my daughters to read amounts on price tags to me in the store.

I’m in my fifties and I’ve needed reading glasses for awhile. In fact, I own several pairs. I keep one in the handbag I never carry because it’s too heavy. The others are scattered around the house where I can easily reach them if I wanted. I used to read novels into the wee hours with minimal lighting, but now I squint and strain to make out words on my backlit iPhone devotional. My eyes require more and more light to see. Likewise, my soul craves the Light.

The Psalmist earnestly looked for comfort and rescue from the Lord as I often watch restlessly through the hours of the night for morning. Picking up my glasses would be the obvious solution to my squinting and straining eyes, but where can comfort be found for a yearning heart? Where can you look when you need clarity?

“I have put my hope in your word. My eyes are straining to see your promises come true.”

Psalms 119:81-82 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.119.82.NLT

For much of my life, I have prayed for the Lord to allow me to see as He sees, to hear as He hears, and to love as He loves. I am aware that my eyes don’t see clearly. My ears are clogged with worldly chatter and my heart, well, “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?

But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.17.9-10.NLT

Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector. He’d made a good life for himself by skimming a little off the top. He was very good at what he did and was quickly promoted to chief. He made it his business to know the comings and goings in Jericho, so when Jesus passed through one day, “He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.”

Luke 19:3-4 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.19.3-4.NLT

There was no seeing Jesus through the crowd gathered along the road unless he could gain some ground, so he climbed a tree and waited. As he trained his eyes on the approaching throng, I wonder what he was expecting to see? Did he pick out Jesus before He stopped below his tree? Did his heart skip a beat when their eyes locked?

“When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name.

“Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

But the people were displeased.

“He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.”

Luke 19:5-7 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.19.5-7.NLT

A notorious sinner. Saul who became Paul called himself the chief of sinners. He had persecuted the early followers of Jesus, admittedly dragging men, women and children to prison for their faith in Jesus as the Christ. The Lord blinded him and then restored his sight before he could see clearly.

“Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.

Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.”

1 Timothy 1:14-16 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/1ti.1.15-16.NLT

“Meanwhile, Zacchaeus (another prime example of His great patience with even the worst of sinners) stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

Luke 19:8-10 NLT

https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.19.8-10.NLT

From the moment Jesus looked up in the tree into his eyes, Zacchaeus began to see things differently. The greedy miser who, Scrooge-like, grew his own wealth while extorting more than necessary from the people of Jericho now promised to give back four times as much! He would surely need to remember that glance when the coffers started to dry up, but in that moment, all he could see was his true self through the eyes of the Lord.

The Amplified Bible translation describes the kind of change Jesus makes this way. “But whoever practices truth [and does what is right—morally, ethically, spiritually] comes to the Light, so that his works may be plainly shown to be what they are—accomplished in God [divinely prompted, done with God’s help, in dependence on Him].””

John 3:21 AMP

https://bible.com/bible/1588/jhn.3.21.AMP

What Zacchaeus promised to do that day was only possible in the Light of Christ, but the people were displeased with Jesus for choosing to enter the home of such a notorious sinner. Their prejudice kept them from seeing a soul in need of a Savior. Their memories of previous interactions with Zacchaeus left a bad taste in their mouths and they could think of a hundred reasons why Jesus should have walked right by that tree. They couldn’t see the coins that would once again line their pockets. They couldn’t imagine that a man like Zacchaeus could change, but Jesus knew.

What are you struggling to see as possible right now? Who do you know who is straining to see Jesus?

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. May I have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to love like Jesus.

Have you put your hope in God’s Word? Are you straining to see His promises come true?

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.1.20-21.NIV