Seeing Jesus With the Eyes of My Heart

Thursday, December 14th, 2017     by Debra DuPree Williams     Start the Conversation

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams


Many of you know that I recently underwent cataract surgery. While I can see things that are close-up, things more than four or five feet away are blurry. Forget seeing those things that are in the far distance. Many return visits to the doctor’s office confirm that I was left with a not-so-unusual problem, but one that doesn’t normally occur this soon after surgery. Most people who develop this do not do so until one to five years post-surgery. Leave it to me to have it right after. Par for the course, if you knew me.

One of the major issues accompanying this problem─blurriness on the new lenses─is that lights halo and starburst so much that I cannot see at night. My vision is just the pits once the sun goes down and car lights, street lights, and this season, Christmas lights, go on. They all spread to the point of distortion, causing discomfort in my eyes. I even have difficulty reading on my Kindle and working on my computer screen. Not good for a writer.
 
Halos and Starbursts
Last week, my husband and I were out shopping in a store known for its great Christmas decorations. We needed a Christmas wreath and a few things with which to decorate our little villa. 

While walking down the rows and rows of Christmas trees, lights twinkling, I realized that those lights, even in the midst of the brightly lit store, were going to be a challenge for me this year. Would we even be able to turn on the lights on our little tree? Could I tolerate all the halos and starbursts coming from all those little bulbs?


Seeing Jesus

I have to tell you, my shoulders drooped as I walked down that aisle of trees with a sad, sad heart. But at the end of the aisle, I stopped and turned to my husband and said. “Why am I so sad? I’m looking with my eyes. I can still see Jesus with my heart!” That thought brought with it a different attitude and along with it,  the Sunday school song, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

Christmas isn’t the outward things we do to decorate our homes, neighborhoods, or communities. It isn’t the things we see with our eyes. Christmas takes place within our hearts. It’s the knowledge that we put up all of these things, bring out the stockings, hang the garlands, bring out the lights, in celebration of the birth of the King! The Savior of the world. The One who came that we might be saved!

So, rather than lament the condition of my eyes, I’m resting in the knowledge that  He’s been with me all these years, right inside my heart. So this Christmas, I’m seeing Jesus with the eyes of my heart. And isn’t that the way He intended for us to see Him? Not just at Christmas, but every day of the year?

We discovered that if we leave on the lights in our den where our little tree is located, then the lights don’t bother me as much. The halos are at a tolerable level. And isn’t this the season for halos anyway? Best of both worlds.

The Heart’s Eyes
I pray that you will see Jesus with the eyes of your heart this Christmas season. The Light of the World (John 8:12) is right there, inside all who call upon His name. In Jeremiah 29:13, we are promised that if we seek Him with all of our heart, we will find him.

How are you seeing Jesus this Christmas Season? Share that with us below. 

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