Since the beginning of the school year, Jayla complained that her eyes were bothering her, and sometimes she was getting headaches. Being the responsible and mature 13 years old she is, she stated that I needed to make her an eye doctor appointment. So I did. While scheduling her appointment, I also planned one for Stephen Jr. because he was due for an exam also.

Because there was only one me and two of them, Jayla went for her exam alone, and I tamed Stephen while he was being examined. They took pictures of his eyes and quickly moved us into a room. The assistant came to test his seeing ability. Soon after she began, I, someone with no optimal knowledge, could immediately tell that he struggled to see.

When the doctor came into the room, he informed me that not only did Stephen need glasses, but so did Jayla. He had Stephen redo the readability exam, this time with help. He breezed through it. They both picked their designs and were fitted. Yesterday, we picked up their glasses. I looked through the lenses of each pair. Jayla’s offered me more clarity, while Stephen’s pair distorted my view.

That made me wonder about my spiritual view. I began to think about when I have difficulty understanding or seeing God’s word; I should get the help of the Holy Spirit, the one who brings clarity. I began to think about how when we look through the wrong lens our view of truth can be distorted.

In Matthew 4, Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Jesus and Satan both knew Scripture. They both learned to memorize the Scripture; however, Satan failed to obey Scripture because his view of Scripture was distorted. He was looking through the wrong lenses.

Knowing Bible verses is an essential step in helping us resist the devil’s attacks, but we must also obey the Bible. Understanding the Bible and obeying the Bible helps us follow God’s desires rather than the devil. However, only when we really know what the whole Bible says will we recognize errors of interpretation and distortion when people take verses out of context and twist them to say what they want.

Is your spiritual view in focus? Or do you need to ask the Holy Spirit for more clarity?