“Behold, I go forward [and to the east], but He is not there; I go backward [and to the west], but I cannot perceive Him;
On the left hand [and to the north] where He works [I seek Him], but I cannot behold Him; He turns Himself to the right hand [and to the south], but I cannot see Him.
 But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous].
My foot has held fast to His steps; His ways have I kept and not turned aside.
I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.
 But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does.
 For He performs [that which He has] planned for me, and of many such matters He is mindful.”
Job 23:8-14 (AMP)

What has impaired your vision? Worry? Fear? So many times in life we let the things we can see, blind us from seeing God’s hand. We let the ever mounding bills blind us of His promise of provision, the illness to overwhelm our faith that He is our healer, fear to rob our trust in God!

Today my thoughts carry me back to elementary school. I find myself out on the playground, meeting for the first time several students with very special needs. Something drew me to them, and soon we had a special bond. The teacher noticed how they opened up to me, and asked the principal to give me special permission to help her throughout the school days. Twice a day, I would go to this classroom and spend time with these kids.

Today I am remembering Michael. Michael had impaired vision, completely blind in one eye, and wore glasses to help his vision in the other. Because of this, he was very afraid of everything. He would sit alone, shuffling his feet on the ground, or cling tight to his teacher.

As I got to know Michael more, I found out he had dreams of playing like the other kids. He wanted to learn to swing, play on the big tires, and slide down the big slide. He had heard the other kids laughing as they played, and Michael wanted to laugh too.

Michael had let his impaired vision bind him up in fear. Fear had crippled his life. Fear had robbed him of laughter and friendships, of having fun on the playground, of being able to accomplish simple tasks.

Every day, Michael and I were given time alone on the playground. At first we just walked around the playground, learning the surroundings. Little by little, he was sitting on the swing, touching the tire, and standing on the first step of the slide’s ladder. Then, I was pushing him gently on the swing, he was standing on the tire, and climbing a few steps higher on the ladder. Every day, fear let go, and over time he learned to swing and walk on the big tires. I was so proud the day he even conquered fear and climbed the ladder to the top and came down the big slide! By the end of the school year, Michael was the most outgoing kid I knew. All Michael needed was someone he could trust to show him the way.

In life, we can’t always see how things are going to turn out, and we may be blindsided now and then. Doubt, worry and fear will set in to cripple and blind us, and make us feel alone and helpless. But God is always with us, even when we cannot see Him, loving us, guiding us, teaching us that we can trust Him. He will never leave us. He is right there with us that moment fear tries to set in, and He speaks. His voice brings peace to our troubled heart. We hear the love in His voice, we feel His strength rise within us. We cannot always see Him, but we know He is always with us.

When we know this truth, we too will feel fear and worry’s grip loosen. No matter what is happening around us, we can have this confidence, that God sees it, knows about it, and is with us through it. We will overcome it!