If you close your eyes and picture the biggest obstacles in your life at the moment, what comes to your mind? Are these impediments what block you from achieving your dreams? Are they draining your relationships? In either case, when we face obstacles, we often see impossibilities.
What if there is an art of seeing that helps us turn roadblocks into opportunities? If each stumbling block is like a stone on our journey, have you thought about turning the rocks into stepping stones? When we shift our perspectives, we can start turning the newfound stepping stones into pillars. Instead of tripping us, these stones can actually build us up, preparing us to reach a higher ground.
Many years ago, I saw an amazing news clip that featured a blind artist. I was intrigued by the notion that a visually-impaired person could create images. How does he get to know the objects around him? How can he differentiate one color from another? The answer is through touching. He uses his hands to touch and feel the objects and people around him, and he uses his hands to feel the difference between art mediums. And I think, most importantly, he sees with the eyes of his heart.
Being a limited and broken vessel, we are, in many ways, like a blind artist painting pictures. We can neither see beyond the next step nor experience anything outside of our five senses. However, if we allow God to guide us − reaching out to Him with our hands wide open and envisioning our future with our heart − maybe we can accomplish more than we can ever imagine.
If you are currently being confined in an environment that is seemingly dark, a place where you see no hope and no way out, I invite you to find an alternative way of seeing. 2 Corinthians 4:18 urges us not to focus on the temporal things which we can observe with our physical eyes; but rather, on eternal things that can only be perceived through our spiritual eyesight.
Being human, we all have those moments of frustration as we come face to face with our disappointments. There were probably moments that we feel like we are wrestling with God in a boxing ring. In times like those, let's try to picture God not as the opponent facing us in the boxing ring, but rather, a coach going around us teaching us how to fight the battles. Let us take each battle seriously, setting aside the time and space to process the colorful emotions: anger, frustrations, disappointment, pain, confusions, and any other negative emotions. But don't stay there for long; may we come out better and stronger, turning the stumbling blocks into pillars to reach a higher ground. Let us pick up the brush, putting on different colors, painting one stroke at a time, to draw out the rainbow with God's guidance.
Here is the amazing artist's story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P615rh-vJI4