Short Term Vision

After John Esau signed in at the hospital, the doctors told him “the stab wound was not [his] greatest problem.” They had seen a bigger problem than he had seen. That must have been difficult for him to understand. “What do you mean a greater problem? I just got stabbed and am in excruciating pain, there can’t be a greater problem than that!” But the doctors had long term vision and saw his greater need.

Some of us suffer from a problem called ‘short term memory’ and because I am one of those people, I understand how frustrating it can be. I forget people’s names, conversations I have had, or responsibilities I may have just been given. Another, greater, problem that we all experience could be called “short term vision.” Something might happen to us because we can only see the short term consequences of actions we may take.

For example, if you’ve just lost your job, short term vision would probably result in anxiety, discouragement and very few answers to a growing list of frantic questions. You may injure your writing hand and wonder “how you will ever be able to complete this assignment on time. Or your computer may crash for no known reason, and the immediate problems you will face may be endless! Problems like these seem so big when we have short term vision and it is the only thing we can see. What will you do?

You can do several things in response to these problems. You can exhaust yourself thinking about how you could find another job or alternate income. You could try to teach your other hand to continue writing the assignment. Or you could pay as much as is required so the computer is fixed correctly. These ideas may or may not work.

But Jesus offers a fourth solution that has a 100% guarantee for those who have chosen to try it. In the Bible, He beckons us to:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matt. 11:28

Jesus does not promise to be the man to fix all of our worldly problems, especially in the same way we want them to be fixed. But he will give us rest, the one thing we all seek but rarely find, if we simply ask Him for it.

To his horror, John Esau discovered there was a greater problem than his stab wound that needed to be fixed first. If you will let Him, Jesus wants to show you the greater wounds in your life that only He can heal, and are more important than the problems you can see like a lost job, a broken bone or a computer that shuts down. Jesus wants to give you long term vision, something that only he can give because only He has it.

Prayer for Long Term Vision

Lord Jesus, teach me to see what only you can see,

The eternal things that are currently invisible to me,

Give me long term vision so I( may trust you to make me free,

And take away my anxious thoughts and replace them with faith in thee!

To learn more about John Esau, read his testimony at: http://www.thestreetcorner.org/