The Ultimate Optical Illusion

I promise this picture is not moving. Your eyes just think it’s moving. It’s called an optical illusion, when your eyes play tricks on you.

Spiritually speaking, our eyes can play tricks on us. It usually starts when we promise ourselves not to watch the news anymore. We’ve all been there at one point. We can’t handle hearing about another murder, another crime. We vainly try to shut ourselves off from the depravity of the world, but we realize we can’t hide.

One of the casualties of today’s information-wired society is innocence. With a 24/7 news cycle, we’re all painfully aware of just how broken this world is. To many of us, the tragedy can become overwhelming, blurring our vision and causing the ultimate optical illusion: the mistaken belief that the world is beyond hope.

In John 4, both Jesus and his disciples encountered a Samaritan village. While the disciples saw a pit stop and a group of people they’d rather avoid, Jesus saw a woman at a well (and ultimately an entire village) ready to believe in him. They were both looking at the same thing, but only Jesus had eyes to see it. His admonishment to his disciples? “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

Hope is a choice. We can choose to believe the lie that the world is too sinful, that people are beyond redemption, that the gospel has lost its power. Or we can choose to hope. Choose to hope in a God that is still changing lives all around us. Open your eyes and take a look around. You’ll see friends and family members ready to come home to Christ.

QUESTION: Have you ever fallen for the optical illusion that this world is beyond hope?