50/20 Vision

How good is your vision?  We all have different levels of vision.  Some of us are near sighted or far sighted, some need glasses or contacts, some need vision surgery, and some have naturally perfect vision.  Good vision is called 20/20 vision.  Some even have “eagle eyes” with 20/10 vision.  In the Old Testament account of Joseph, we see the best vision.   This vision is a vision of what God is doing for us in our lives.  This vision is seeing how God works to turn our sinful intentions and works them out for good through the forgiveness of sins.  This vision, shown to us in Genesis 50:20, is what I like to call 50/20 vision.

In our sinfulness it is hard for us to have this kind of 50/20 vision.  In our sinfulness we tend to focus only on the bad things that are happening to us right now.  We focus on things like feuds with family and friends, sickness and disease, loss of jobs, lack of money, the challenges of our economy, the pressure of politics, and hurtful things that people around us have said or done.  We also have sinful and selfish intentions of our own.

Joseph’s brothers had their own sinful intentions as well.  They intended for Joseph to lead a life of slavery far away from them and eventually die.  All this they did because they were jealous of their brother.  In the midst of bad times in our lives we sinfully tend to doubt the presence of God in our lives.  During these times, we fail see how God is actually working for the good in our lives at all times.  This is the sinful vision that we all have as we stand before God and His perfect vision.

It would have been very easy for Joseph to have his brothers put to death if he had held a grudge against them for selling him into slavery.  Instead Joseph saw the big picture.  Joseph loved his brothers despite everything they had done.  Joseph had already forgiven his brothers without question because he could see the big picture.  Joseph saw how God had worked through his brothers sinful intentions and was now saving many lives through him.  This is the big picture, that because of sin, it is hard for us to see.

God worked through all the terrible experiences that Joseph endured and through them saved many lives.  God has a grand vision over everything that takes place and, while not willing sin or evil, He is capable of directing everything to that which accomplishes His purpose.  People may just say that Joseph was a really lucky guy.  The truth is there is no such thing as luck.  What there is, is “providence”.  Which is the care and guidance of God over his creation.  We can see this providence in our own lives, but it takes “50/20 vision”.  When we look back at our lives we can see how God has blessed us in many ways.  Through 50/20 vision we are more able to discern the loving hand of the Lord in that which has happened to us in the past.  Augustine described it in this way:  “When you first consider your life, it looks like nothing but a bunch of chicken tracks in the mud of a barnyard, going this way and that.  But through the eyes of faith, we begin to discern pattern, meaning, direction.  Providence.”

God wants us to know that he wants what is best for our lives.  It is in the cross that God wants to be known and where He reveals His forgiveness and Himself for our good.  Jesus went to the cross for all of our sins.  He died for the sins that we still hold grudges about today, yet he forgives us of those sins through his death and resurrection.  From the cross Jesus even shows us true forgiveness when he prays for God to forgive the sins of those mocking him and crucifying him because they do not know what they are doing.

Another part of 50/20 vision is looking through the cross and realizing that we can forgive others because God will work through the sinful things in our lives and turn them into good according to his good and gracious will.  Our response to God’s great gift to us through the cross is one of praise, repentance, and forgiveness.  Because Christ paid the ultimate price to forgive our sins, our response to others should be one of continual forgiveness.  As Jesus says in Matthew 18:35, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”    Forgive continually; don’t hold on to those grudges you have been holding onto for years.  Forgive them and forget them.  Don’t let disputes between friends and family members go on without forgiving the hurtful things being said and done.  Instead of holding on to grudges, hold on to the example of continual forgiveness that Christ showed us on the cross.  Hold on to the promises that we have that God is always there with us, and that he has a perfect plan for our lives that is far better than we can ever imagine.

When we forgive others as Jesus instructs us to do in His Word, we can then see the big picture.  It is then that we can see the “50/20 vision” that we see in Genesis 50:20.  It is then that we can see how God has even worked through our sinful intensions and overcome them to show us his good and perfect will.

So how is your vision?  I pray that you may have the vision of Joseph, the 50/20 vision that allows us to see the work of Christ in every part of our lives.  The vision to see that even through hard times and struggles God is completing his good and perfect will in our lives.  The vision to see through the hurtful things that others say and do to us and to forgive them knowing that we have been forgiven by Christ.  Now that's good vision!