Adjust Your Lens
A Glimmer of What Has Always Been True
I thought maturity meant understanding more. I thought transformation meant becoming someone different.
I am beginning to wonder if many of the most important moments in life happen another way.
What if transformation begins with seeing?
“But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.”
— Luke 24:16 NASB
One evening I drove onto church property. For months, I was a part of a small group of ladies and had been praying a hedge of protection around the property. We bound anything that was a hindrance to Holy Spirit from entering the property so that Holy Spirit would have free reign to minister to hearts.
I thought I was praying for delivery drivers, visitors, & the mailman. I had no idea that Holy Spirit was preparing to answer that prayer for me.
As I entered the property, I sensed Holy Spirit speak to my heart. “You are angry with Me.”
I immediately disagreed. “I am not angry with You.”
I was not being defensive. I genuinely did not understand what He meant. As far as I knew, I was not angry with God at all. Looking back, I realize something important.
The Stella I knew was not angry with Him.Years later, I would begin calling her Big.
Big loved Jesus. Big trusted Jesus. Big’s response was completely honest. Holy Spirit was not correcting Big. Holy Spirit gently pointed toward another glimmer..
Then He reminded me about Little. Suddenly something became visible. Something that had always been there.
Little was not created that day. Big was not created that day.
I simply became aware that two very different understandings had been traveling together within me, within one beloved daughter of God.
At first, I could not understand how both could be true. I did not receive an explanation that day.
I received a breadcrumb.
At the time, I had no idea that one breadcrumb would eventually lead to an entirely different way of seeing.
That experience changed more than I realized at the time. As I followed that breadcrumb, I began noticing the same pattern everywhere.
The treasure was there.
I simply did not see it yet.
The bookkeeping gift was there.
I simply did not see it yet.
Many gifts were already there.
.I simply did not see it yet.
Insight was there.
I simply did not see it yet.
Jesus was there.
I simply did not see His presence yet.
That realization reminded me of a story in Scripture.
The Road to Emmaus.
Two disciples walked with Jesus. Talked with Jesus. Listened to Jesus explain the Scriptures. Yet, they did not recognize Him.
The remarkable thing is that Jesus was present before He was recognized.
The miracle was not His arrival. The miracle was their eyes were opened.
“Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him…”
— Luke 24:31 NASB
And once they saw, they could never unsee.
Incomplete Stories
The facts did not change. The story did not change. Jesus did not change.
Their ability to notice & see Him changed.
Again and again, awareness revealed that what I could see was real.
It was also incomplete.
There are many examples in the Bible.
Genesis 39, Joseph is sitting in the prison after being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, he could not see Genesis 50.
The Author was still writing.
The Lord was with Joseph when he was sold into slavery, the Lord was with him in prison as well. Joseph had favor with the chief jailer of the king’s prisoners. The Lord was with Joseph. Whatever he did, the Lord caused it to prosper.
The Author was still writing.
Perhaps that is one of the greatest invitations of Scripture. To faithfully steward the chapter we are living; even though the current chapter may be painful. Following the Glimmer of Light in the midst of it all.
Remembering that while we have breath, the Author is still writing.
Visibility revealed the story was incomplete.
I have spent years discovering that many painful experiences were simply incomplete stories. Chapters.
The scam. (Yep, been there done that.)
12 Miscarriages.
My lost childhood years.
Parenting.
Money.
Identity.
Business.
Each one became another landing.
Each landing allowed me to see another glimmer that had been there all along.
Layers & Lenses
I often think of those elaborate steampunk glasses with multiple rotating lenses. Or the multi-lens Benjamin Franklin spectacles from National Treasure.
Each lens reveals something different.
Each lens changes what becomes visible.
Some lenses are clear.
Some are tinted.
Some are scratched.
Some have become slimed over time.
The Light itself never changes.
The lenses determine what we see.
Slime rarely attaches itself to complete falsehood.
It usually attaches itself to a glimmer of truth.
A child learns:
“My choices matter.”
Then slime whispers:
“Everything is my fault.”
A child learns:
“I have influence.”
Then slime whispers:
“I am the problem.”
The truth remains yet slime distorts. Over time the distortion begins to feel like reality.
The Glimmer remains. The Light of Truth keeps peeking through.
A question.
A discomfort.
A burning heart.
A breadcrumb.
A sense that there is more here than I currently understand.
The glimmer exists because the Light is always shining.
That is why I have spent so many years following emotional breadcrumbs.
Emotions often contain a glimmer of truth.
A clue.
A signal.
An invitation.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus later said: “Weren’t our hearts burning within us?” Their hearts recognized something before their minds understood it.
Recognition followed later.
Awareness does not create reality.
Awareness reveals what has always been true.
Little?
The bookkeeping gift?
The treasure?
Jesus?
Awareness came later, revealing what was hiding in plain sight. Glimmers building upon other Glimmers.
The treasure was always there. I just could not see it yet. Looking back, I see that I have been Glimmer Gather all along.
The KING simply gave me another Glimmer for my feet. Then another and another. Each one preparing me for the next landing.
Invitation
Adjust Your Lens is not about rewriting history.
It is not about denying pain.
It is not about pretending difficult experiences were good.
It is not about creating a new reality.
Adjust Your Lens is about recognizing more of what has always been true.
One Lens at a time. One Breadcrumb at a time. One Glimmer at a time. The Light never changed. The lenses gradually aligned.
Perhaps that is the invitation.
A glimmer of Light is gentle. Quiet. Unmistakable. It does not compete for attention. It patiently invites attention.
The glimmer is never the whole journey. It is enough Light for the next faithful step.
The slime is real.
The glimmer is real.
The invitation is to follow the glimmer.
Remaining available.
Receiving another Glimmer of Light.
Allowing another lens to be cleaned.
Following the next breadcrumb.
Seeing what has been hiding in plain sight all along. As the glimmer leads toward the Light. That has been there all along.
Sometimes the miracle is not that God arrives. Sometimes the miracle is that our eyes are opened to see.
As I continue walking with the King, I keep discovering another glimmer. Another landing. Another invitation to trust.
He holds everything. He holds me. I surrender.
Then I discover there is more to surrender. Because every glimmer reveals more of His faithfulness.
While I have breath…
The Author is still writing.