Seeing but not seeing..

They say familiarity breeds contempt. We see what we often expect to see, rather than what is actually there, especially in familiar environments.

My husband will often say to me “noticed anything different”?

That’s a statement that always brings a certain amount of blind panic to me. There’s obviously been a change which I’ve missed.

I’ll look around and be like “noooooo” which will prompt him to say “look more closely” and then illumination hits..I see what has changed. Usually it’s so obvious I can’t believe I’ve missed it! Please tell me I’m not alone in this.

This is a re-post today but it’s been on my heart. Today, I just want to encourage you (and me) to look around us with fresh eyes and also read our bibles with fresh eyes.

There may be something or someone near, perhaps even right under our very noses, that the Lord is calling our attention to and wants us to see. He wants us to notice a need and be the answer to that need or situation.

For someone reading, I believe the ministry the Lord has given you a passion and vision for may be closer than you think.

We make our prayer requests to God and God may also have already provided the answer, but we have not yet recognised it.

As a lawyer, part of my job is to prepare and read very long and complicated legal documents with multiple paragraphs, definitions, cross referencing etc. Often the same document is in preparation and being amended back and forth between the parties many times.

I sometimes go “Word blind” which means I start reading what I expect to see rather than what is actually written. I’ve learnt I need to go away and do another job and come back to the text. When I read it again with fresh eyes, I usually see a mistake that I have missed or some text I have interpreted wrongly. It’s usually so obvious I can’t believe I didn’t spot it before.

This can also happen when we read our bibles. If we are sometimes very familiar with the text or the bible story, we don’t sometimes “see” or “read” what is actually written. We read what we expect to see. We can miss things.

I pray the Holy Spirit will illuminate God’s Word to us afresh today and give us eyes to see where we have been “Word blind” before. Bless you.

“Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law” Psalm 119:18