20th April 2022
The misty optic
Where there is no vision, the people perish…
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)
My mother used to have a leather spectacle cleaning pouch; inside it was a small, glass cleaning chamois and on the outside was written in gold lettering ‘You can’t be optimistic with a misty optic.’ I still appreciate how clever that statement was. I don’t know what happened to the pouch, but the message is forever with me. How true those words are in every sense; it is very annoying when my spectacles are smudged and blotched – I can’t see properly. Likewise, it is so harmful to others, and myself, if I find myself not optimistic. Negativity blurs my spiritual and mental vision and I affect others in the same way.
The world news is often bleak, and we should have a heart that cares, but why should we be downhearted when we have this precious promise in Jeremiah 29:11 (RSV): “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
The evangelist Billy Graham maintained that Jesus was neither an optimist nor a pessimist:
On one hand, Jesus was a pessimist about our ability to solve life’s deepest problems apart from God. The reason is that our deepest problems ultimately come from within us, and are spiritual in nature… On the other hand, Jesus was an optimist about the future – because He knew that the future is in God’s hands… But Jesus was an optimist for another reason: He knew that when we commit ourselves to Him and make Him the foundation of our lives, our sins will be forgiven, and our lives will be changed.
Jesus trusted His Father completely – this gave Him the optimism for our ultimate future. God understands that we are human, we are prone to feel depressed from time to time. Life can feel oppressive and pointless, this is when we struggle to remember that Jesus Christ, our elder brother, is willing to fight our corner for us – all we must do is ask.
When negativity or pessimism threaten to overtake us, seek Jesus to clear our misty optic, to renew in us the certain hope of the wonderful future that lies ahead for all of us – we won’t even need spectacles!
Prayer
Wonderful, all understanding God, thank you so much for our Saviour who gives us hope for the future. Without it we are lost, with it we have everything, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Study by Irene Wilson
About the writer:
Irene Wilson is a Deaconess in the Watford congregation of Grace Communion International, and also serves on the Pastoral Council.
Local congregation:
Gracecom Watford
St. Peter’s Church
61 Westfield Avenue
Watford, Herts.
WD24 7HF
Meeting time:
Saturday 11am
Local congregational contact:
George Henderson
Email: watford@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church