day 11 Vision

 For some reason this week Facebook has seen fit to fill my timeline with magic eye pictures.  You know, those things which look like a square of random patterns and then as you de-focus your eyes you suddenly see everything in 3D and a picture emerges.   It usually takes me a little while to see the hidden picture but Im always transfixed when I do.  How does it happen?  I know it was first discovered by accident by some bloke looking at his computer screen saver.  But then how did that accidental happening turn into a sort of art form?  Its a bit mind boggling.  And eye boggling too.

My thought for today, inspired by the magic eye pictures, is about vision.   Is it possible that things we have been looking at for ages in 2D might actually hold hidden secrets if we just knew how to look?  I remember some of the prophetic guys who used to come through our church back in the day talking about the unseen realm.  Every bit as real - if not more so - than the physical world but mostly hidden from us.  Hidden because we probably wouldnt know what to do with it if we could see it. 

Despite the fact that I know theres a whole other spiritual dimension out there, Im afraid I havent dedicated much of my life to training my spiritual eyes to see.   As the world descends into AI chaos I get the feeling that being able to see the truth, the spiritual reality, is going to become increasingly important.  As we look at the news, and hear what is going on in the world, we can do what everyone else does and see what is presented.  Or..... we can re-focus and wait until the 3D image comes into view.  Seeing behind what the world sees and watching for what the Holy Spirit is doing.

Recently we have had some pretty difficult stuff happen in church.  A young Dad had a heart attack and died , a young mother who was the best friend of a church member and much prayed for by church died from cancer, and today two kids in our youth group lost their dad.  Two of our leadership team have had surgery and are off work for several weeks. A number of people in the congregation have long term chronic conditions. It suddenly seems like the sky has fallen in.   This all feels more acute because we are a small church ( 90 adults) and over the 12 years we have existed there really hasnt been much sadness and tragedy.  In the past month it feels like we've had 12 years worth of difficulty all in one go.  But that is just what the 2D picture looks like.  It is what the world sees.  Is it the whole truth though?  What does God see and what does He say?   If I could be bothered to sit and look at all of it and ask Him and wait for an answer maybe I would see a different picture.

As 'elders' in the church I think its our job to discern the Truth.  The gifts of discernment and wisdom are so important if the church isnt to lose its way.  The recent well publicised fall of church leaders in America might have been avoided if people close to leadership had been able to see spiritually what was going on.   May be they did.  Maybe they were ignored - and that's a risk we take I guess.