Yesterday I saw someone wearing these trendy pair of Tina Fey eyeglasses and I thought, wow, those look so cool I bet I could rock those. Then I remembered that I don’t wear glasses. And then I actually had to pause in mid step, because I suddenly remembered that yes, I did used to wear glasses, in fact it wasn’t even that long ago that they were a big part of my life. Glasses were a constant, something I’ve accepted as inherently part of me, something by which I define myself persistently. Whenever I’ve had to choose avatars or icons for whatever reason, I’ve always gone for the ones that wear glasses.
Up until two years ago that is, when I experienced a miracle from God. We were singing in choir, and my glasses fell while we were on stage at some point, definitely during the praise part of the service, although I didn’t notice until someone handed them over, cracked and broken beyond repair. I took them with a shrug, thinking that I was having them replaced soon anyway. I went to the optometrist the following week to be fitted with a new pair, and as the doctor was going through the usual tests, she looked at me strangely behind that giant contraption that they used and asked me why I was getting glasses. She said my eyes were perfectly fine. And I suddenly noticed that yeah, they were fine, I haven’t been having any migraines for quite some time already, and I realized that I now had perfect vision.
And the awesome thing about it was that I had never asked for it. It wasn’t part of my prayers at all, because as I had mentioned above, it was something that I had already (mistakenly) accepted as my ‘fate’, something that I didn’t think could ever change about me.
It’s a common mistake I think. A rookie one as well. It’s a mistake to think that there are things about us that can never ever change. I always correct people when they say words like, “Ganito lang talaga ako (I’ve always been this way),” asserting that there is no chance for them to change anymore. It’s wrong because they are implying a limited God, setting boundaries on what He has the power to do. They’re closing themselves off to the possibility of realizing their full potential in the Lord.
It saddens me when I hear Christians say these words. It’s as if they are forgetting all about the “new creation” part of 2 Corinthians 5:17. Because when we accept Jesus in our hearts, we will definitely be changed. It’s a spirit injection. We are set up to become something new and improved. Call it version 2 if you will. Just like a computer upgrade, it’s unavoidable and completely necessary if we expect something better to come out of our system.
And it’s not a one time deal either. It’s an ongoing process that we just have to go through, allow God to keep working in our lives. That means constant change, that’s always for the better, even if we do not realize it immediately.
But make no mistake about it, eventually He will open your eyes and give you the perfect vision to see that what He has done in your life is good. He has done it for me countless times before. And I am excited to see what else He will break, and what else He has in store for me.
UPDATE: I still have 20/20 vision, but now I need reading glasses. I can read just fine without them, but the words are blurred, and I can’t read well in the dark. So, reading glasses it is.
Does it negate the miracle that I experienced? No, it does not. Does it imply that God gives, and takes away? He did not “take away” the miracle, He allowed some other things to happen. Such is life. Because time marches ever forward, and the only constant thing is change. Does it mean that God’s love is not absolute and eternal? No, because who’s to say that in allowing the natural order of things, for things to take their due course, He is still not loving in the process? This is all works precisely because He is wise and all-knowing. Should it stop one from still believing in miracles and pursuing the presence of God? Is that a trick question?
But does she listen? No, reader, she does not.