I distinctly remember the moment where I realized that I needed glasses. I was probably 12 or 13 and taking a trip in the car with my mom. For whatever reason, something I said made her question whether or not I could see well enough. She then directed my attention to a strip mall sign and asked, "Can you read that?" To my shock, I realized that she could see it much more clearly than I could. I got my vision checked not soon after, going through all of the mildly horrifying eye exams where they stick things almost into your eye or make you feel like a lab rat scrambling to answer everything right. After the exam, I went out in the front area and was given a pair of glasses to try on. I looked outside, made a confused face, and then whispered to my mom, "I can't see any better with these..." My mother laughed and explained that they were just try-on frames that didn't yet have lenses. The lenses would take over a week to be created and shipped into the store to be installed in the frames.

Spiritual Vision

In the same way that the lenses for my glasses took some time to be created, our spiritual vision can take some time to line up with our diagnosis. The area where it differs is the amount of time it takes to get your new spiritual vision. For example, when I read the Bible I am constantly confronted by areas of my perceptions that don't align with God's. I usually spend some time praying for God to help me interact with that particular situation the way that he would. Unfortunately, my mind and heart don't instantly adopt the new paradigm, so over a period of time - whether days, months or years - I get confronted by my distorted perspective and have to ask for God to help me readjust.

Rather than be discouraged and let the Devil convince me that I'm a lost cause, I have to remind myself that my vision will most likely take some time. God has my vision in the shop and he's transforming it. Because he cares infinitely more about the state of our souls than we can imagine, he wants us to go through the process of becoming more like him instead of just fixing surface issues; he wants to fix the root of the issue.

Regardless of the type of vision issue that you're having in your life that is getting in the way of your spiritual growth, you have the opportunity to work with God to fix it. Here are some of the key methods for getting your spiritual vision fixed:

• Read the Bible daily
• Read sections of the Bible out-loud that relate to the issue you want to tackle. I would recommend using the "topics" feature on the Open Bible website to find the right sections easily: www.openbible.info/topics/d
• Pray specifically for the areas of your vision that you see don't line up with God's vision
• Ask others to pray for that area of your vision

Are there other ways you can think of to help correct your spiritual vision? Write them in the comments below!

No matter how long it takes or how difficult it was, the resulting clarity of vision will be extraordinary. I distinctly remember when I put on my first pair of glasses for the first time. The world suddenly became startlingly alive, vibrant and even more meaningful because I could see things that were ordinarily too far to examine. In the same way, correcting your spiritual vision will result in incredible advances in your understanding of life, God, people and your own soul. Don't miss out on it!