20/20.

Nostalgia has a way of making the strongest man or woman weak - suddenly overcome with love, memories, joy, sadness, regret. Looking back, we see things in a very different light. Oh how I hate the saying "hindsight is 20/20," but it haunts all of us so much of the time. Part of me disagrees with that statement. I think hindsight is 20/40 or 20/80 - ridiculous clarity that is only afforded to us when all is said and done. And yet, it feels as though we strive for 20/20 in the present, as if that will prevent us from making mistakes, from having regret.

What about those moments we are in where we just can't see around the bend, the corner has yet to appear, the clouds have yet to break. We call these steps of Faith, and our lives are full of them; it's what keeps us reaching our hand out into the darkness to grasp the hand of our Savior, our God, our friend. 20/20 vision in these moments is a privilege and a rarity.

If we had 20/20 vision when we were struggling at the crossroads, there would be no struggle, no crossroads, and no cry for help. I believe the Holy Spirit is the closest tool we have to attaining perfect vision in a foggy world, becoming our corrective lenses, if you will. Even then, a leap of Faith is just that - a leap into the unknown with the assurance that our God is waiting to catch us...waiting to catch us in His arms should we leap in the right direction, and waiting to grab our hand to rescue us should we choose the wrong path.

As "adults" now, we pray and pray for greater and better vision as it comes to the decisions we have yet to make. We also pray for that for our children and the youth in our lives, almost as if we want to impress upon them our 20/80 glasses that have looked into our pasts, saying, "Here you go, look through these, they will take you far. You can learn from my decisions and my mistakes without having to take a leap." I exaggerate of course. I know full well from teachers in my past that good instruction and good discipleship complements and strengthens faith. But just like I have a story woven in my past - of leaps and falls in the dark - so these children and youth have similar stories ahead of them.

What a treasure lies before them in the darkness, where they can build their faith, pray to their Creator, walk gingerly along the edges of cliffs, and then boldly emerge on the other side with scars - wounds healed by a loving and sovereign God. I forget too often that the God who held my hand in the darkness will also take and hold theirs.

My vision is less than perfect, and even knowing the past failures, it is a struggle in the present to continually step out in faith, but I find that each day it's easier. That is our prayer for future generations, is it not? That their Faith would be an unwavering light in the darkness. I pray for grace in the moments of Truth, grace in the moments of doubt, grace in the moments of hesitation. Most of all, I pray that they would understand the grace the Father has for us whether he catches us in his arms or snatches us from the snares of the evil one.

It's this grace that surpasses even the most powerful magnifying glass in clarity and foresight. What a gift to these feeble eyes.

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2 Corinthians 12:8-9
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Acts 4:33
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

Matthew 21:21
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

“Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.” ~ Abraham Lincoln