There are a lot of ways to lose our sight…
We lose sight of our purpose.
We lose sight of the forest for the trees.
We lose sight of the dignity of the person in front of us.
We lose sight of the important in the wake of the urgent.
We lose sight of the beauty of our surroundings.
We lose sight of the majesty of humanity because of the stain of sin.
We lose sight of the eternal.

So how do we regain our sight? We look through the lens of the truth of God’s word:
Purpose: I Corinthians 6:20
Big Picture: Revelation 4
Dignity: Psalm 139
Important: Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Beauty: Job and Psalm 121
Majesty of humanity: Psalm 8
Eternity: Revelation 21

Fanny Crosby was a prolific hymn writer in the 1800s. At the age of two months she was blinded by someone professing to be a doctor. She wrote over 8000 hymns over the course of her lifetime and many make reference to sight and seeing, one of the most famous being:

Blessed Assurance:
Perfect Submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight…

All the Way My Savior Leads Me:
Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be, gushing from the rock before me, lo a spring of joy I see!

To God Be the Glory:
But purer and higher and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.

That last line may be the result of a comment made to her:
“I think it is a great pity that the Master did not give you sight when he showered so many other gifts upon you,” remarked one well-meaning preacher.
Fanny Crosby responded at once, as she had heard such comments before. “Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I was born blind?” said the poet, who had been able to see only for her first six weeks of life. “Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior.”
cited from Christianitytoday.com “Fanny Crosby, Prolific and Blind Hymn Writer.”

And so, please, dear Lord, give us a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of (Christ), having the eyes of our hearts enlightened, that we may know what is the hope to which You have called us, what are the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of Your power toward us who believe… Eph 1:18-19

He was poor. He was sent away from home at 15. He was confused about his purpose and full of fear. He was nearly killed in a furious storm. He disappointed his father. He suffered from various ailments including arthritis, heart problems and depression. He lost his beloved daughter. Trying to stand up for what he believed in, he was mocked, hunted down, isolated, and betrayed by those he thought his friends. He was threatened with death upon multiple occasions.

Yet despite all these things, he loved to sing. He was intelligent, educated and thoughtful. He was hospitable and openhearted. He adored his wife. He steeped himself in Scripture and therefore at the cross of Christ he found his comfort.

He recognized that despite the enemy of our souls being cruel and powerful, crafty and very practiced in the tearing down of souls, God is our bulwark (n. a solid wall-like structure raised for defense; a rampart. from Merriam-Webster)

He recognized that when we rely on our own strength, we fail miserably. It is only when we lean wholly and fully on our Lord Christ that we will have victory. His triumph over sin at the cross and His resurrection from the dead proves that there is no enemy that could possibly defeat our Lord Sabaoth – the Lord of Hosts.

He reminded us that even though we may be filled with fear because of our outward circumstances.  The world may rob us of the comforts that we think we deserve, the relationships that should be filled with joy, and even our health and some their very lives, yet God will work in and through us, building His kingdom.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I am referring to Martin Luther and his hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. As we worship on Sunday, let’s focus on the words of the hymns that we sing. Remember that they were penned by real people in real situations who have walked this walk of faith before us and are a part of the great cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12:1. Revel in the corporate Body of Christ that goes beyond geography to ages past and future.

Photo: Castelo de Sao Jorge, Lisbon Portugal