A Transformed Lens

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. 

- Hebrews 12:2, The Message

In my lifetime, I have owned so many pairs of sunglasses.  I remember in my high school days, it was "cool" to wear sunglasses with a colored trim matching your clothes, headbands, legwarmers or all of the above.  Although the brands may not have mattered, the matchiness somehow always did.

In my early adulthood, I loved my sunglasses to match my jewelry.  As a young teacher, I wore cute dangly Brighton bracelets and earrings.  I needed the adorable Brighton sunglasses, too.  Besides, they came in a super cute case.

Now, in my fabulous forties, I have grown to love those moments when I can actually find my sunglasses.  Does that only happen to me????  Over the past few months, I have searched frantically for my sunglasses only to find them resting on top of my head.  I have announced to my family, "This pair is really lost forever," only to locate them at a restaurant hostess stand a few days later.  Most recently, I made sure to tell my family, "This is my favorite pair EVER," only to wear that pair on a mission trip construction site and change their appearance FOREVER.

So it was on a very recent birthday that my sweet family handed me a bag from The Sunglass Hut while saying, "So, this is it.  You need to only like wear these in your car or special places."  Indeed, I have cared for my Prada sunglasses better than I have cared for my dog, my laundry or my car!  I made new rules for my shades like, "Yeah...these will never be propped on top of my head."  Most importantly, if they aren't on my face, they must be in the case!  My husband's words, "This is it!" transformed my sunglass etiquette.  However, another unique feature of my new lenses did as well.  From the first time I placed my sunglasses on and looked in the mirror, the world looked different.  The special tint on these lenses adds vibrancy and color to every part of the landscape around me.  Somehow, even my phone case sparkles when viewed through Prada sunglasses!

Isn't it glorious that the world around us also seems to change when we view everything through a Godly lens?  Growing in grace and basking in the love of our Almighty Savior, our lives become richer when see people just as God sees them.  In those transformed moments, we see light amidst the darkness.  Conversations sparkle, and hope appears.  I don't know what circumstances you face today; however, I know it is easy for all of us to lose perspective.  It is easy to view our circumstances through a worldly lens.  How is your vision?  When you gaze ahead, what do you see?  Perhaps it is time for you to change your lenses.  Expect rays of light, moments of sparkle, and glimmers of hope.  Amen.