In the Word: Enlightening the Eyes

One night, I was lying in bed reading before turning out my light. I rubbed one of my eyes, but kept the other one on the page I was reading. All of a sudden, the words on the page were blurry. I opened my eye, and the words came into focus. Weird.

I looked at the page and covered my eye again and the words blurred beyond recognition. I uncovered my eye and the words came back into focus. I covered my other eye and the words blurred again. What in the world?!

I always had 20/20 vision and until the moment I covered one eye, I had no idea my eyesight had changed. The next day I made an appointment with an eye doctor. I left the appointment with a pair of glasses. The eye expert confirmed I needed a little help to have perfect sight.

God’s Word gives us “sight” for living. Psalms 19:8b says:

The commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;

Another version says it this way:

The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living. (NLT)

What are the commandments or commands of the Lord? Often, we think they are a list of rules and regulations, but the commands of the Lord lead to a healthy, joyful life. I gave my kids rules regarding homework, bedtime, nutrition, and, in the teen years, curfews and dating to help them grow strong, be safe, be successful in life, and to protect their hearts, The Lord gives us gentle commands in His Word for the same reasons, not to harm us.

When I realized my eyesight was not what it should be, it would have been foolish to go see a cardiologist or an audiologist. What I needed was a professional who specialized in my physical weakness—my eyes.

Losing a child can cause us to have an emotional (and often spiritual) heart defect. So we need to go the spiritual heart expert—the Lord and His Word. His Word is full of life-giving promises.

“The Lord is near to the broken-hearted and saves
the crushed in spirit.”
-Psalms 34:18

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
-Philippians 4:7

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
-Proverbs 3:5-6

When we trust the Lord and cling to His promises regardless of what the situation looks like—even when our dreams seem to have died—the Lord gives us new sight. He enlightens our eyes and gives us new vision. When all seems hopeless and lost, if we dig into the pure truths in His word, we allow the Holy Spirit to breathe fresh vision and hope into our lives.

We may not understand the death of the child we longed to carry and raise, but we can be assured that the Lord will walk through the tough, dark days with us.

Dear Hope Mommy, I want to encourage you to dig into the Word of God and let His promises and assurances give you new insight into how you can live a joyous, hope-filled life in the midst of your grief.