Seeing Clearly

I recently had an experience that I suspect many people who wear glasses have had. I woke up one morning and could not find my glasses anywhere. I fumbled around in the dark looking for them but I could not see clearly enough to find them. In desperation, I reached up to the top of a shelf and found a spare pair of glasses that were no longer the right prescription. But even though my sight was still blurry while wearing these glasses, they improved my vision enough that I could continue the search for my glasses which I eventually found had been hidden by my 1.5 year old.

I was reminded of this experience recently when I listened to the talk Eyes to See by Sister Michelle Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.

Sister Craig began sharing the story of Elisha praying to the Lord on behalf of a young follower to “open his eyes that he may see.” Initially, the young man sees the overwhelming armies that surround them, but with the help of heavenly sight, he sees the armies of heaven supporting and sustaining them.

Sister Craig explained: “There may be times when you, like the servant, find yourself struggling to see how God is working in your life—times when you feel under siege—when the trials of mortality bring you to your knees. Wait and trust in God and in His timing, because you can trust His heart with all of yours. But there is a second lesson here. My dear sisters and brothers, you too can pray for the Lord to open your eyes to see things you would not normally see.”

In my experience, heavenly vision does not frequently come all at once as it did for the young man and Elisha. Sometimes we do have such experiences where we see things with crystalline clarity. More often, however, we see things through a glass darkly. Like my story where I used the spare pare of glasses to see a little bit better, we frequently receive just enough clarity to keep searching and seeking.

Sister Craig describes this process really well. She explains that she frequently asks two questions and “pay[s] attention to the impressions that come”: First, “What am I doing that I should stop doing?”; Second, “What am I not doing that I should start doing?.

These two questions did not lead Sister Craig to a major epiphany or life altering revelation. Instead, she was led to a small and simple insight, namely that she should stop looking at her phone when standing in line She didn’t fully understand the purpose of this revelation or why it would matter. But applied it to her life, she was led by God to bless someone else’s life.

Frequently, we receive just as much light or revelation as we need to take the next steps. Indeed, sometimes we may misunderstand the exact promptings we are receiving. But in time, things become clear. For example, my wife and I were recently were trying to decide whether our daughter should remain in her public school that was heavily relying on distance learning or to home school her. My wife and I both felt that home schooling would make sense and we began to research curriculum and track down some material. In the end, however, a spot opened up in a nearby charter school and so we ended up enrolling her in that school. But the detour into researching home school helped to clarify the differences between the schools and prepared us to make the decision that we think was in her best interest. Without that home schooling detour, we may not have been prepared to make that choice. We were led step by step even without seeing fully.

I love Sister Craig’s promise: “I witness that Jesus Christ loves us and can give us eyes to see—even when it’s hard, even when we’re tired, even when we’re lonely, and even when the outcomes are not as we hoped. Through His grace, He will bless us and increase our capacity. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, Christ will enable us to see ourselves and see others as He does. With His help, we can discern what is most needful. We can begin to see the hand of the Lord working in and through the ordinary details of our lives—we will see deeply.”

Seeing deeply is often a process that takes time. It is hard to do especially when we are tired or lonely or frustrated. But I know that it is possible with the help of God. He will lead us along the right path even though the way may not be as clear or straightforward as we may like.