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If you have ever had an eye exam you most often discover you are missing more details than you thought. Even if you already wear some sort of corrective lenses, the vision shifts gradually and we may not realize how much it has changed until we have no correction, and more so if we are not able to use that correction for more than a few minutes or so.

A few months ago I had a consultation for cataracts. I knew that I had the beginnings of them years ago and my vision was not as good as it had been with my contact lenses. But I had worn contact lenses for years with no issue until I needed to get some prescription reading glasses for early morning or later day when I was not wearing them and I was of an age where I expected it was likely time to have the cataracts removed.

I was right! Somehow in recent months they had grown quickly and it was time. The process to prepare for surgery began with numerous eye tests and measurements and dates for surgery in one eye and then the other was set. I was happily looking forward to all the contact lens routines to be set aside. Then I learned I would need to not wear my soft contacts for two weeks to assure measurements of the eye were perfect and accurate. Why no contacts? Because they change the shape of your eye when you wear them over time.

Photo by Skyler Ewing from Pexels

Two weeks seemed to be manageable because I had my good reading glasses and I could manage mid distance decently. I would just not risk driving. No reason to buy glasses for mid and long distance all these years and especially as I knew the expense of cataract surgery was just ahead of me. I would figure it out.

Two weeks ended and I could hardly wait to have the measurements done so I could wear my contacts again until 3 days before surgery. But a different reality was in store. My eyes without contacts for two weeks had changed so much that these measurements were significantly different than when my eyes were measured on the first visit. I also could tell I was seeing more poorly than the times I was without them for a shorter period.

When the surgeon saw how much difference there was he decided that he needed to cancel the current surgery dates and have new measurements taken after two and a half more weeks without contacts to be sure the multi-focal new implants were perfect. Ugh! How disappointed I was. I knew I needed to see if my optometrist could get me some cheap glasses for mid and long distance until surgery could happen. No question on that one when you discover you can’t see much beyond the big E with your worst eye. 

So, here I am typing this with my reading glasses with the first surgery now 6 weeks away. It was an example and reminder that reality is not always what we think it is something I had recently read by Paul Tripp.

“The Bible calls you, as a believer, to live with three realities in view. The first greets you every day. It is the reality you live in a world that has been dramatically broken by sin and does not function the way God intended… The second reality is that even though we are God’s children, we lack the power on our own to fight spiritual battles in which the world of sin and temptation engages us… Finally, you and I are welcomed as God’s children to rest in the reality that in this fallen world that throws temptation at us every day, we are never, ever alone. God is with us. He provides the safety we could never provide for ourselves. He fights on our behalf even when we don’t have the sense to resist. He gives us wisdom and strength at those moments when that’s exactly what we need. You and I can face the harsh realities of life in this broken world with courage and hope because we do not face them by ourselves.”  

Paul Tripp in New Morning Mercies

In the illustration about my eyes and sight, I discovered the reality of the excellent vision I thought I had with my contacts didn’t allow me to see how much my vision was altered by them and how much I very much needed the surgery. I already knew from the first 2 weeks without contacts I missed little places in dusting or washing a glass or dish. What would I discover after two and a half more weeks? 

One thing for certain was my excellent eye surgeon was pointing me to the best reality I can know in this life. And what God reminded me was never to forget that I live in 3 realities and to assume anything else that causes me to miss what is true about Him and life in this world. How kind of God.

Photo by Tanner Ecrement, grandson