Seeing Clearly / Guest Post by Ruth Smith

Yesterday, I had cataract surgery on my right eye. In just a couple of weeks, I’ll have the left one done too. But for now, I’m living in an unusual reality: one eye clouded with cataracts, and the other suddenly able to see with clarity.

What a shock that first moment was - seeing through my cataract-free eye. Everything was brighter. Whiter. Cleaner. Light reflected off the floors and walls like never before. The tablecloth I thought was beige was actually a soft, creamy white. The yogurt container wasn’t yellow-tinted; it was crisp and clean. And those walls I had “carefully” chosen the paint color for? They weren’t cream—they were white! The clarity was dazzling. So much so, I sometimes had to close my eye to rest from the brightness.

In that moment, I was struck by a powerful thought: This must be just a glimpse of what heaven will be like.

Scripture tells us that heaven has no need for the sun or a lamp because God Himself is the light. And after experiencing how intense and pure this physical light felt, I was overwhelmed thinking of what it will be like to step into the radiant presence of God, who wraps Himself in light and reveals all things in truth and glory.

Then, I looked through my left eye, the one still clouded by cataracts, and everything felt dim again. Hazy. Like a fog or a dirty lens filtering my reality. And that’s when it hit me:

That’s what sin does.

It dulls our perception. It clouds the truth. It makes what is wrong seem normal. Until the light shines in, until we see through God’s lens, we don’t even realize what we’ve been missing. The contrast is sharp. Just as I had adjusted to the darkness without realizing it, our hearts can adjust to sin, too… unless the Light breaks in.

This whole experience brought 1 Corinthians 13 to life for me:

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, ESV)

Right now, our vision, our understanding, is limited. Even the best glimpses we get of God and His truth are filtered through a fallen world. But one day, all will be revealed. One day, we’ll see clearly. One day, we’ll see Him face to face.

That’s the hope we carry. That’s the clarity we long for. In the meantime, we keep walking toward the light, letting Him illuminate our hearts, our sin, and our steps.

And when the day comes that we step into His presence - free from sin, full of joy, and wrapped in light - what a day of glory that will be!

Hallelujah!