Face Down Faith by Pastor Paul

 

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for

the evidence of things not seen.

I find it amusing that this weeks topic is faith and that one of the key New Testament verses on faith speaks about things not seen.  There are a lot of things I have not seen this week.

Last week I had a black floater moving around in my left eye.  On Friday things began to get hazy.  By early evening I had what looked like a planet with a beautiful purple edge rising from the bottom right quadrant of my eye.  Saturday morning the planet had risen 2/3 of the way up my field of vision.

Urgent Care sent me to Loma Linda where Karen and I spent the day in the ER.  I saw a delightful third year resident who told me my retina was torn and detached from the eyeball.  She went over and above, making me a 7:40 am Monday appointment with the attending ophthalmologist, Dr. Lam.

Karen drove me to Riverside for the appointment, which led to Belinda, Karen, Jennifer, and I heading to USC in L.A. for emergency eye surgery.  It was great fun... I met new people, made new friends, went to sleep, and woke up with a big bandage on my itchy eye.

Then came the fun part.  Keep your face pointed to the ground for the next five days.  No lifting, bending, or jerking for weeks.  No swimming and above all else... no gain in elevation for six to eight weeks.  The gas bubble that is in the eye will expand and do really bad things if the pressure increases!

So here I lie, on my face, listening to everyone else packing for Yo-Camp.  When I look through my one working eye the gas bubble and stitches in the other create a very weird kaleidoscopic effect.  Lovely yellows and purples take the place of the full field of vision and depth perception that I had just last week.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.

The weird thing about being face down is what I can hear around me.  The grand kids feet zip, the kids clop.  Karen is barefoot and she pads around the house.  I can tell who is talking by their voice.  I have even watched a movie while kneeling at a bench and looking down into a mirror aimed at the TV.  How amazing to discern a world moving all around me, that I am not currently a part of.

I wonder what God wants me to see and hear in the world of faith

while my sight is dimmed and I spend my days face down?

You pray for me, and I will pray for you...

that each of us learns what God desires to teach us
about the world we cannot fully see and the things we do not yet know!

Pastor Paul