God opened my eyes on a couple of things this week in my 3 bible study classes. Then I had a phone conversation about my eyes with my optometrist yesterday. Those 2 things together just begged for a post :-). So, here we go!
Let's go with the physical issue first. Near the end of last year when I went for my annual optometrist appointment, I happened to mention that my eyes sometimes get very dry. I should have kept my mouth shut. She put dye in my eyes and agreed they were somewhat dry. She gave me a prescription of Restasis. That stuff is expensive! I used it in both eyes the first night and the next morning I could not open my eyes - no gunk sticking them shut or anything like that. They just wouldn't open. I finally used my fingers and pushed the lids open. No pain or anything; they just refused to open. I used the drops that day and that evening and had the exact same situation the next morning. I have to say it scared the daylights out of me. My optometrist and I both agreed it was too much of a coincidence that this would not be related to the Restasis since I've NEVER had this problem before.
Four plus months later the problem hasn't gone away. Most mornings the eyes will eventually open on their own (kind of) but some mornings I still have to push the lids open. Once they are open, I'm fine for the remainder of the day.
The optometrist has had me try anti-inflammatory drops and drops for allergies and neither have had any effect at all on the situation. Her research found "Apraxia of lid opening" (ALO) as a possible cause. Knowing what the name could be is not very helpful but it's another piece of information. I guess I may eventually know for sure and know if this is a symptom of something else and whether I'll be stuck with this forever. I'm currently trying to get an appointment with a neurologist whose name the optometrist gave me. She wants to rule out certain neurological conditions that it seems might be a possible cause. In the meantime, I'm getting used to waking up with my eyes closed! At least it doesn't freak me out anymore; it's now just an inconvenience.
So, that's the physical side. Now, to the spiritual side.
Each of my 3 bible studies is on a different book of the bible: Exodus, Isaiah, and Acts. Exodus was recorded by Moses most likely between 1450 and 1410 B.C.; Isaiah was recorded by Isaiah the Prophet most likely between 740 and 680 B.C.; Acts was recorded by (Doctor) Luke in 61 A.D. All of these books were written by God through men of His choosing. While they were recorded hundreds and sometimes thousands of years apart, they fit together like a glove.
There were at least 2 things that were "ah ha" moments for me this week, i.e., God opened my eyes:
- There are many people who believe that Peter is the "rock" upon which the Christian church was built. I began to doubt that interpretation several years ago but, never actually pursued the matter. I did look at the original language through a good concordance that relates the individual words back to the original language. That study supported the idea that Peter was NOT that rock.
Then this week, I locked in my thinking when I really saw the following verses:
For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
Here Paul is describing Israel's exodus out of Egypt and all that God provided for them, despite their grumbling and idol worshiping, during the 40 years in the desert. He clearly says "the rock is Christ"! That confirmed all that I thought. How many times have I read those verses in 1 Corinthians and not seen that? I have no idea. But, now God has opened my eyes to see it.
- I never thought about the similarities between Jacob's son, Joseph, and Moses. After my Exodus class yesterday, now I see it! Joseph started out a brash young man, was sold off by his brothers, was a slave in Egypt for a good number of years, was given the gift of interpreting dreams and eventually ended up as second in command of Egypt which allowed him to take in his family (Israel) during a famine. Israel incubated in Egypt until they became a good-sized nation at which time Moses led them out of Egypt. During all Joseph's travails God grew and trained him into the person he needed to be to accomplish the task that God had lined up for him.
Now, look at Moses. He was born a Jew but ended up being mostly raised in Pharaoh's palace where he learned the ins and outs of Egypt from the top. When he was about 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian and was exiled to the desert in Midian where he lived for about 40 years. He married there and had 2 sons. He was a shepherd and learned how to survive and live in the desert. When he was about 80 years old God sent him back to Egypt to bring Israel out.
Moses was not a youngster when he went back to Egypt (understatement :-)) but he went. I won't go into the details of all the things that went on between God and Pharaoh before Pharaoh finally let Israel go. I think everyone probably knows that God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could pass on dry ground and then he brought waters back and drowned all of Pharaoh's army. But, the part that was of interest to me as God opened my mind is that all that Moses went threw in Egypt, his exile, and his time in the desert was God's way of growing and training Moses up so he could complete God's task of shepherding God's people in the desert. God was there with them all the time but Moses was His point man!
I hope you all are studying God's Word and drinking from the knowledge of the All Powerful, All Knowing creator of all that has been created.
Blessings,
Mary
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