Enlightened Eyes
- Sara Hanna
- Sep 6
- 5 min read
Before I knew that eyes are the 2nd most complex organ in our bodies with the brain being number one, eyes have and still amaze me! Maybe because I have had glasses since the 4th, possibly due to my youngest daughter having eye surgery and glasses since she was three years old, but then- I am a nurse, and maybe it’s no because the eye is yet another amazing creation of our wonderful Savior. There are so many applications between our eyes and God’s instructions to us in scripture that I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write a blog post about eyes. In all honesty, I am working on a Bible study that will be called “Enlighted Eyes” (hence the name of this entry). You’ll have to stay tuned for that but here is a little snippet to whet your appetite. 😊
Here are a few fun facts about our eyes to begin with.
The eye has over two million working parts, all working together to facilitate vision.
Over 80% of the brain’s processing is from our vision.
There are NO pain nerves inside the eye, you could have serious eye conditions and not know it until you have permanent eye damage.
There are over 1 million nerves connecting each eye to the brain.
Even though the retina detects only 3 colors, red, blue and green, we can distinguish over 10 million different colors.
The iris (colored part of the eye) has 256 distinct features, but fingerprints only have 40.
The ‘red eye’ seen in flash photography, is due to the retina being densely packed with blood vessels.
The human eye weighs approximately just under an ounce.
Every second, your eyes change focus over 50 times.
Blue eyes? You share a gene with every person on the planet who has blue eyes. Years ago, all eyes were brown until a genetic mutation developed that led to blue eyes.
How cool are those facts? What is even more amazing is that our wonderful Creator created our eyes perfectly to meet our needs as well as for our pleasure. Can you imagine what Adam and Eve must have experienced prior to their sin through their sight? Sadly, that pure perfection was tainted with sin (Genesis 3) and now we have many problems related to our eyes as well problems that we see through our eyes. As we think about the results of sin, let’s look at a couple disorders/ problems with eyes having
a spiritual application.
Amblyopia develops when there’s a breakdown in how the brain and the I eye work together, and the brain can’t recognize the sight from one eye. Over time, the brain relies more and more on the other, stronger eye — while vision in the weaker eye gets worse. This reminds me of Christians that focus only on the milk of God’s word. 1 Peter 2:2 encourages us to “desire the sincere milk of the work, that ye may grow thereby”. The problem is that many do not progress in their relationship with God as instructed in 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12-14 so they become spiritually weak just as the weaker eye in Amblyopia does. Treatment requires patching the good eye or putting drops in the good eye (blurring its vision) so that the weaker eye must work- becoming stronger. Early treatment works well and usually prevents long-term vision problems. Sister, the same goes for our relations ship with Christ. When we are lazy in our “workouts” (reading our Bible and praying) our spiritual sight and strength will weaken. The only way to strengthen our faith and relationship with God is by building our spiritual muscles/ relationship. With Amblyopia, kids who grow up without treatment may have lifelong vision problems. Amblyopia treatment is usually less effective in adults than in children. The thing is, this same concept is true in our spiritual lives, if we don’t hide God’s word in our hearts as a young Christian, it is harder and harder as we move forward in our spiritual life.
Cataracts: A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye, which is typically clear. Most cataracts develop slowly and don't disturb eyesight early on. Often people have no clue that they have cataracts but with time, cataracts will eventually affect vision. A person may become legally blind if cataracts are left untreated. Sweet sister, our souls are no different. When our hearts become diseased with sin, it is clouded and the choices we make are born in sinful, selfish thoughts. Just as a cataract decreases physical vision, sin decreases our vision for what God has in store for us. We often settle for less than God has for us because of this sin and decreased vision in our lives. 1 Corinthians 2:14 reminds us, “But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.”
Although I’ve only discussed 2, most common eye problems stem from a variety of factors, including aging, family history, systemic conditions, and lifestyle choices. The most common spiritual problems stem from not growing spiritually to keep up with spiritual age, settling for mediocracy because “that’s how my family has always been”, and lifestyle choices affecting multiple areas of our life (associating with the wrong crowd, not having daily time with God, no prayer life, etc). The important thing is that we identify these diseases/ problems before they invade major areas of our spiritual lives.
What an encouragement Paul gave us when he said, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Oh, what a blessed thought that we would lay aside these sins that weigh us down and make our souls sick. Laying aside every weight so that our relationship with our Heavenly Father would thrive. Friend, we are told to “watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Prov. 4:23)” and to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Are you guarding your spiritual health preventing these as well as other diseases from invading your heart? Are you getting a “spiritual workout” by having devotions, Bible study, prayer time and fellowship/ accountability with other sisters? If you aren’t currently “working out”, begin today! Your spiritual wellbeing is the most important area of your life. It's the only thing that will have everlasting results! Corie Ten Boom (one of my favorites) said, "If you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within you, you'll be depressed. If you look at God, you'll be at rest." Sweet friend, use your eyes to focus on God and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33).
Verses to meditate on: 1Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 2:14, 3:2; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Hebrews 5:12-14; Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 6:33
~Live sent
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