Don't Lose Your Vision

 I love to hear the Holy Spirit’s gentle voice. He encourages me, guides me, and at times corrects me. Not long ago I asked God to help me with my addiction to my phone. I was either playing a game, or flipping between Facebook, email, or Instagram. The amount of time spent in the virtual world was excessive, while the real world I live in was neglected. I needed His help.

There were multiple gentle nudges from Him reminding me of the other things I needed to do, but the pull of the phone was stronger. Then one day He gave me a response to my request for help that gave me pause; it wasn’t the reply I expected.

“If you keep doing this (using the phone), you will lose your sight.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what He meant. Did He mean I would literally go blind? We’ve all heard the potential dangers of blue light from our devices, so after a few reminders from God about losing my sight, I really began to listen. I didn’t want to go blind. 

I began to put my phone down more and took frequent breaks. I noticed my eyesight was blurry after excessive use, so I knew the breaks were a good thing to do. But then it occurred to me. Could He have meant something other than my actual physical eyesight? Was He talking about a different type of vision? 

God gives each of us a vision for our lives. Things He wants to do in us and through us. Was it possible this was the vision God was referring to? Instead of losing my actual physical eyesight, perhaps my phone usage was interfering with the God-given vision for my life. The distracting, time-eating device was being used by the devil to steal my time and my talents.

Distraction. It’s one of Satan’s greatest tools. It keeps us from doing the things God has for us to do. It keeps us non-productive for His kingdom work and steals the time we could have used in more useful activities. It blocks our eyes from seeing the kingdom work around us.

For me, the distraction was my phone. I admit to still battling with it, but I am aware of how the devil is using it to interfere in my life. I don’t want my God-given vision lost because of a sneaky tool of the devil. I don’t want to lose sight of what God wants me to be and to do.

How about you? Is there a distraction in your life that’s keeping you from the vision God gave you? Make a commitment today to turn off the distraction and seek God to restore His sight and vision for your life.