Seeing Beyond 2020
Jan 08, 2021
Two days before Christmas of 2020, I awoke to several flashes of light off to the left. As my eyes adjusted to the light in the room, I noticed that I couldn't clear the fog from my left eye. Trying to make out the fine print of my NIV was impossible, and quickly brought about a big fat headache....AND real fear of a retinal detachment.
By mid-morning, an optometrist had ruled out anything threatening. "But, that flash of light did create a large floater, and it couldn't possibly be in a more problematic spot". My vitreous had launched a giant cobweb into the dead center of my left eye. She promised me some headaches in the near term. But eventually, time and gravity would pull it away from my direct field of vision. She reassured, "Soon, you will learn to see around it."
In the blink of an eye, I had my own metaphor for 2020. A pandemic arrived overnight. In a flash, it clouded the world's ability to see anything clearly. It's repercussions have brought continuing headaches. And it's going to take time for the problems to go away.
In the meantime, we have to learn to see around it.
I have a well-entrenched year-end planning ritual. The days between Christmas and New Years are reserved for family, and for charting the course for the new year. Admittedly, planning for 2021 is more of a challenge than usual. The constant presence of the floater - both literally and figuratively - is a barrier. It's hard to see beyond 2020. But I'm learning!
If focusing on the future is also a challenge for you right now, I encourage you to head straight to Michael Hyatt's new book The Vision Driven Leader. It comes with access to several excellent digital tools. I'm currently using The Vision Scripter as a part of my planning process. AND he's even provided a separate resource for those of us who work with faith communities called The Vision Driven Church Leader.
What 2020 has made clearer to me than ever before is this...God is faithful. Even when our human eyes can't see around today's troubles, much less tomorrow's opportunities, God sees us and is watching out for us. Psalm 33 is one of my favorite reminders, and I especially love how Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message.
Psalm 33