What a mess, Julia thought as she walked into the kitchen and saw all the dishes. Then she remembered the special computerized glasses her dad had given her and told her to wear.
“They’ll help you see life differently,” he’d told her.
She pulled them out of her pocket and put them on. The words “opportunity to serve” flashed across the screen. Were these dishes really an opportunity for her to serve her family?
Julia blinked back the tears. Her friend’s words stung. Julia felt anger at the injustice rising in her heart. She pulled out her glasses. “Opportunity to love” flashed across the screen. Could her friend’s insensitivity and lies actually be an opportunity for her to grow in love?
For the third time that day, Julia rolled the bandage around her ankle. This sprained ankle had totally ruined all of her plans. She had a tennis practice and a game Saturday—or at least she did before this. The game meant so much to her, but now she wouldn’t be able to go.
Julia moped around the house for a day before she remembered her glasses. When she put them on and looked at her ankle, the words “opportunity to trust” flashed across the screen. Could even this ankle be an opportunity rather than an obstacle?
Little by little, Julia’s glasses changed how she saw the world and how she lived. She discovered that the very things she often complained about were really opportunities in disguise.
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (ESV)
I’m a sinner saved by grace through Jesus Christ. I’m also a writer—I’ve been writing ever since I could hold a pen. I…