Optical Illusion.

{Part 2 of 2 posts that are somewhat related....heh. This is the [more refined] impromptu speech I gave at Nationals. This version might be slightly longer than what I gave....but hey.}

Wait! No! realized I've never posted about Nationals! (this is not the speech, btw)

Real quick, here's a run down.

It didn't quite feel like Nationals because I didn't have anything to work on. No speech to worry about, no debate case to go over, nothing to memorize or freak out about.

...except impromptu.

But the thing about impromptu, as I mentioned last time, is that it's not something you can think about, it's something God gives you - it's something you just do. And going into the tournament I so desperately wanted God to do something with my speeches - with me. My first two rounds were kinda bad....I mean, they'd have done fine at a qualifier level - but they definitely weren't national quality, and it was really discouraging.

My last round however, was the best. The funny thing was that I got to the end of my prep time and the only thing I had written on my paper was "we walk by faith, not by sight." (ironic, isn't it?)

I had nothing in my head. I literally thought, "Oh crud. I'm a nationally qualified speaker, there is actually an audience in here, and I have nothing. I'm going to get up and embarrass myself in front of everyone."

But as I got up there, God gave me the passion, the words, and the examples. Just right there - right as I needed them.

Isn't He amazing?

So here you are.

As you probably noticed, I have glasses - as some of you do as well. And to get your prescription for your glasses, you go to the eye doctor. Now if you've ever been to the eye doctor, you probably know those funny pictures they give you - little optical illusions that don't make any sense - and then ask you absurd questions like "how big is the ladybug NOW?" and supposedly make a lot of sense out of it.

Usually, it doesn't make much sense - to us - but optical illusions really don't. That's why they're called illusions - to give us a feeling or a sensation of something that isn't really quite the truth. And what I'd like to talk about today is just that - optical illusions - how things aren't always as they seem. First I'd like to look at this in a historical example, next in my own life, and lastly how I see God working in optical illusions.

Helen Keller - we all know who she is - the girl who was blind and deaf. The entire world must have seemed like an optical illusion to her. Can you imagine growing up not being able to see or hear the world around you? Yet she went on to lead an extremely normal life. She may not have been able to see or hear, but that didn't mean that the whole world was as she saw it. She learned to overcome the challenges she met.

But how about my life? In summer of 2009, my family left my church - a church I had grown up in and learned from for years. I was just becoming involved in a lot of ministries and finding a place I felt able to serve God in. I was growing, learning, and getting to know God - and I couldn't understand why in the world God would take me away from something that brought me closer to Him.

To this day, leaving that church still seems like an illusion to me, and I still don't fully understand why God did it.

But that is the beauty of an optical illusion, and how God works in our lives.

Let me take you back to the example in the beginning - about the eye doctor. See, I can't make any sense of what's going on with the crazy illusions the eye doctor puts in front of my face - but the eye doctor knows exactly what's going on, and he's got a reason for everything that he sticks in front of my face.

And my God, my beautiful, wonderful Savior - He is the great eye doctor, and He knows exactly why He places various things in our lives. We may not understand or be able to make sense of the things in life, but we can rest assured, knowing that our God has a greater plan in mind.

I have a little bookmark at home, with a picture of a giant, furry dog on the front - with so much fur, in fact, that it covered his eyes completely. And the caption on the front said "We walk by faith, not by sight."

It's an amusing picture, but it's so true. Sometimes we are angry at the way we are made or the circumstances in our lives because we feel it hinders us or is keeping us from something more - as I'm sure Helen Keller felt, and I know I felt when I left church.

But in Paul's letter to the Corinthians he encourages us that "our light affliction is but for a moment - and is nothing compared to the exceeding glory we will experience when we spend eternity with Christ."

We walk by faith - and not by sight. See, Paul goes on to say that the things which are seen - are temporary. But the things that are not seen, are eternal. For what is hope, if you already see it? For you do not hope in what you see - but what you do not see.

My challenge to you today is to remember, that we walk by faith, and not by sight. So often I think, "yeah, we walk by faith, that's easy." But in the face of an illusion that I simply do not understand - it's not as easy as it sounds. But I can peacefully rest in the knowledge that I worship a God who does not fail - and who holds me in the palm of His hand.

Next time you see an optical illusion, don't let it remind you of the confusion, but of the Creator - who has a plan - because He who has begun a good work in you - will complete it. Thank you.