I Once Was Blind

I ONCE WAS BLIND

We were away from it all.

No traffic, no street lights~
Only the moon and stars.
Four little grandkids asleep for the night.

We turn off the lights.
Complete darkness surrounds me in this remote place.
My eyes can not adjust~
the eyes that just witnessed their beautiful faces~
Before the darkness came.

My heart cannot imagine living in darkness like this as a constant.
Never seeing that beauty again.
Or perhaps being born in darkness~
Never knowing the beauty of God’s creation all around me. Even now as I write I can picture it, because my eyes have seen it.

The majesty of mountains and trees, rainbows and sunsets. The glory of oceans and sand, fields and flowers. The brilliance and beauty of the sun’s beams shouting out behind ominous thunderclouds.

I cannot imagine never knowing color.

Not even understanding what the word color means.

Breathtaking hues of
falling leaves that paint the world, pure whiteness dropping delicately from heaven,
bright pinks and yellows, greens and purples that burst forth from the cold barren earth in spring,
the crystal blue of oceans that meet and melt into the sky.

Colors of God’s creation everywhere, except to the eyes that see only darkness. Except to the heart that has never known that beauty and therefore, cannot even imagine it.

It is too hard for my mind to even comprehend.

My heart becomes eternally grateful to God for the beauty He has allowed me to witness my entire life and sober at the thought of the awful reality some live with in such darkness.

It moves me to tears as I think that once my heart was like that darkness~
Before Jesus.

That blindness? That was my sin, your sin, and it was far worse than the dreadful reality of living in blackness and never knowing beauty. Far worse~
Until Jesus.

My heart and eyes were opened to the beauty of His gift, His life. For Me. And that beauty shines upon my life daily~
Because of Jesus.

As beautiful as God’s creation is to me, Jesus is far more beautiful. He is color to my fallen world, He is pure whiteness covering my darkness. He is new beginnings to a heart that was barren. He is incredible joy and brilliant beauty shouting forth through the ominous thunderclouds of life.

Before Jesus.
Until Jesus.
Because of Jesus.

My blindness is gone~
Because~

He is my light.

“And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭90:17‬ ‭
“Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭29:2‬ ‭
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:9‬
“For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭18:28‬
“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4:16‬
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:12‬ ‭
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:9‬ ‭
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9:2‬ ‭