Overview:
Shewanda Riley, author and Fort Worth resident, shares her experience of having vision issues and how she learned to balance her old and new perspectives to achieve clear vision. She explains that change doesn't always mean everything disappears overnight, but with time, old things pass away and all things become new. Riley emphasizes the importance of using wisdom to know how to balance the old and the new and allowing God to show us old things from a new perspective.
Because of vision issues like being both near and farsighted, it’s always a challenge to get my eye prescription precise. Doctors do an excellent job of tweaking my vision every year, but it still may not be completely clear. However, a few years ago, when I got my new contact lenses, it only took me driving 10 minutes away from the optometrist’s office to realize that they were not going to work for me.
Things were blurry, and I had to squint to clear things up. I shouldn’t have done it while I was driving, but I kept closing one eye to see which one had the clearest vision. It was so frustrating! I thought it would take my eyes a few hours to adjust to the new and stronger prescription. But after three hours and a strong headache later, I realized that the contacts were the wrong prescription. It didn’t matter to me which contact caused the problem; I just wanted the problem fixed.
The very next day, I made a follow-up appointment to get the contact prescription adjusted. A few days later, I explained to the eye doctor that my vision with my new left contact was good but that the new right contact seemed to be all blurry. Then I told him that I seemed to see better with the old right contact but that the old left contact seemed blurry. He suggested that I try wearing the new left contact with the old right contact. We did a few vision tests in the office while I was wearing the new combination and were both amazed at how much stronger my vision was. In a very weird way, the strength of the new is balanced with the reliability of the old.
How is it possible to see better with both old and new things? Maybe it’s that you sometimes need the balance of both new insights and old wisdom to have the most precise vision.
2 Corinthians 5:17 reminds us that we are new creations: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new!” The Greek word for “passed away” is Parerchomai, which refers to the passage of time. Things and behaviors don’t necessarily disappear overnight, but with time, we see them with a new, improved vision.
When we change and become new creatures in Christ, some traits stay the same. I was talkative before I got saved, and I’m still talkative now that I am saved. Those who loved to dance and sing before they got saved also love to sing and dance after they get saved.
God changes our hearts and renews our minds, but some of our habits may stay the same. With that change comes a change in how we see things. I think God allows this so we can now see how all that we do can be used for His glory and honor. Our Christian walk is about using wisdom to know how to balance the old and the new. It’s also about allowing God to show us old things from a new perspective.
Shewanda Riley, PhD, is a Fort Worth, Texas-based author of “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.” Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Instagram @shewandawrites.