Salvation Sound - October 2012

Posted on October 10, 2012

"My eyes are dim, I cannot see, I have not brought my specs with me". Words remembered from, I think, an old 2nd World War song. The Lord says "You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons." Isaiah 42: 7.

How fortunate are we, those of us who can see? Not many of us have perfect sight. I have recently had one of my cataracts removed; and am in the queue for the sight of my other eye to be improved.

What a difference the operation made; the faces of people on the television screen became clearer, colours were brighter, I could read the road signs as I approached them when driving,...but...I can't see to read properly, because the eyes now don't work well together and I am not to have new 'specs' until the other cataract is removed! But that really is not for much of a hardship. Our Father God has a special kind of love for the afflicted. The song writer Annie Johnson Flint put it well when she wrote: "To added afflictions He addeth His mercy."

A lady who went totally blind at the tender age of four was asked what colours meant to her. She said "texture and taste. Red is warm and velvety. Green is wet grass smell, it is restful. Blue is like water. Yellow has a sound; that of laughter. Violet is soft and quiet. Purple is dark, intense. Orange is loud, shouting, like the smell of the fruit, full of zest, a banner of colour. Brown is the smell of leather. White is the colour of summer. Black is like night, giving the comfort of a warm blanket and assurance. Grey,.. I don't like grey, it's an inbetween colour; like a dull, rainy day, waiting for the sun to shine again."

How favoured we are to have healthcare. Saul, on the way to Damascus was blinded by the Light of the Lord, his companions took him into the city, some three days later, days in which he neither ate or drank, he was visited by a man, a disciple of Jesus, who said to him "Brother Saul, receive thy sight". The whole purpose of Saul's life was now permanently changed. You can read his story in Acts 22. What a difference those days made to him; he turned from doing evil to doing good.

Our sight is a gift from God, not a fringe benefit, a gift that makes joy possible. One cannot but help add that there many more gifts to be had from Him. If you love and serve the Lord He will continually add His blessings.

There are occasions in our spiritual experience when it is necessary for us to take off our spectacles and look at ourselves with true eyes. There was darkness in the world when Christ was crucified, there is still darkness today. He died because dimmed and blinkered eyes could not see what was happening and so sat back and did nothing. There is ugliness, sin, depravity and injustice still in our world today. We are responsible for this world, and each other.

Have your eyes checked; then look around with clear and rational vision, and be thankful for the beauty of this place where we live and for the scenes set before us which because they are there every day, we do not really see. As summer departs the bright display will soon be gone and we will experience Octobers mists...

"Courage, brother! do not stumble, though thy path is dark as night; there is a star to guide the humble; trust in God and do the Right."

Source: Focus, October 2012