My mom sat in a chair surrounded by expensive equipment, waiting for the ophthalmologist to examine her dilated eyes. In coming to the eye doctor this day, my mom was being proactive with symptoms that might indicate a tear in her retina – a rather critical problem. She had read the eye chart already and gone through the preliminaries of the appointment before the dilation. As we now sat waiting for the examination of her retinas, my mom joked, “I won’t be able to read anything the doctor wants me to see now! My eyes are so blurry!” I responded quickly, “Well, that’s how you know things are serious. . . the doctor doesn’t care anymore about what you can look at; he now cares about what he can see in you!” As soon as I completed my comment, it hit me. This is a direct analogy for the work of God in our deluded hearts.
We may think we can assess the nature of our true condition by “looking at the eye chart of our life.” However, we are unable to stare at some standard and rightly discern our heart’s motives and actions. Sin has affected us more gravely than we realize. This is not an issue of a simple eye exam to prescribe the right glasses’ strength. This is a crucial probing into the back of the eye – into the inner workings of the retina. God must peer deeply into the heart and expose what we cannot grasp because of the blurriness sin and self-righteousness have caused.
The Bible is clear about our dilemma in Jeremiah 17:9-10 (ESV), “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of His deeds.” God is telling us that we are incapable of examining ourselves because the heart or “eye” with which we probe is sick to begin with! We need the Doctor to examine us from the outside in – to explore the depth of us for who we really are.
And so my mom’s blurry eyes were examined by the ophthalmologist with all his powerful equipment. The report came back “good.” In the case of my soul, God has investigated and found many problems that my heart could not see. I am thankful! I need the Doctor of my soul! For, when He found the issues, I was able to cry out with Jeremiah, “Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved” (Jeremiah 17:14, ESV).
God Almighty – the Doctor of my heart – has looked in, explained the sin problem and healed me with the blood of His Son, Jesus. Keep probing, God! I need You, not the eye chart.