Looking at Things Through Strange Glasses

Several years ago, while we were in the States for our break from our missionary work in Liberia, we were traveling back to Minneapolis after visiting a supporting church in North Dakota. It was an extremely sunny afternoon and I was hot and thirsty.  I decided to solve this problem by getting an icy Dr. Pepper from a soda fountain. 

Mark pulled into a gas station and I hopped out. Hurrying in, I  filled a cup half full of ice and pressed it to the proper lever. Rather than the normal brown liquid I expected, the cup filled with a clear liquid, like Sprite. 

 Image stockx.change "geox"

I dumped the contents in the tray and tried the Coke lever. To my dismay, the same thing happened. Holding the full cup of clear liquid in my hand, I walked with confidence to the register. "Your soda fountain isn't working," I announced.

The friendly young man working the counter looked into my cup, paused slightly, and then looked back up at me. Immediately I had an overdue "aha moment." Pulling off my blue-blocker sunglasses, I again looked at the liquid. This time it was brown. Both of us burst out laughing.

How often I have done that with other things in life much more serious than a soft drink. With confidence I have declared someone else to have a problem only to find out, in the end, the problem was me. Because of the "glasses" I was wearing, it had been impossible for me to see the situation as it really was.

Image public domain

But thankfully I have a God who specializes in removing whatever it is that blinds me to His truths. As I have yielded more and more to His Word, I see truth with increasing clarity. And I am also thankful God, like the kind young man behind the counter, does not get angry or vindictive when, at long last, I "get it." In fact, sometimes I imagine I see Him smile at me as the glasses are coming off. 

See Honoring a Worthy God.