Perfect Vision Through the Light of the World | August 18th, 2017

It was an East Dallas home tour weekend with several charming mid-century moderns on the list. My husband and I registered early and cleared our schedules to be able to go. Since we recently bought an updated home built in 1950, we both enjoy seeing the way others have remodeled and decorated their mid-century homes using inspiring creativity.

There was one particular home on this tour that I will never forget…

We entered one of the bedrooms and I noticed a large, walk-in closet with a wide open door, so I curiously poked my head inside. I was immediately stunned to see that every piece of clothing hanging up was black!

At first, I thought they must all be uniforms. But when I took a closer look, the tops and bottoms were very different – not uniforms at all. I thought to myself, Who would ever want to wear only the color black? How depressing!

Now, this is coming from someone whose closet is packed with color – and lots of it. I just didn’t get it. Until I spoke with a friend who used to wear black. Only black.

Color Psychology

Every color of the spectrum has a bit of psychology tied to it. We are drawn to specific colors for a reason. Each color has an association with a reaction in our brain when we internalize it.

My favorite color, for example, is orange. It represents enthusiasm, creativity, and determination, all a huge part of my personality. I see orange and I am completely magnetized toward it.

The color black is the absorption of all color and the absence of light. Black is a color that hides. It can be used to hide things such as emotions, insecurities, or even as a slimming color to hide weight. My friend’s reason for wearing it was to try to hide the pain of her past and her overwhelming sadness that she experienced throughout much of her life.

Mourning in Black

Black also expresses grief. We often select this somber color to wear when attending a funeral. Back in the Victorian era, women actually did not have a choice to wear any color but black for a minimum of two years after their husband passed.

The Victorian era started in 1837 when Victoria became the Queen of England at the very young age of 18. She was young, pretty, and quite admired throughout the land. Whatever she wore became the latest fashion trend.

In 1840, she married her first cousin Prince Albert. After 21 years of marriage and nine children, her beloved Prince Albert died at age 42 of typhoid fever in 1861. The Queen then went into a deep depression and mourning, dressing only in the color black for the remainder of her life. She required everyone at the court to also wear mourning attire during social occasions for three years.

The five daughters of Prince Albert wearing mourning black dresses and posing for a portrait with his statue following his death in 1861

When a widow of Victorian society was in deep mourning, lasting one full year, she was expected to wear clothing made entirely of black crepe, a dull fabric that had no sheen so as not to reflect any light.

Jewelry was not usually worn at all that first year. After one year of deep mourning, a widow would go into half-mourning and could wear black silk. Jewelry could also now be worn, made from a variety of black materials such as jet, vulcanite, gutta-percha, and bog oak.

Here is a black glass mourning pin from this period:

After the two years of mourning were over, widows could freely wear any color. However, many imitated Queen Victoria and wore black for the rest of their lives.

Spiritual Blindness

It is your choice whether or not you want to wear light or dark clothing. But did you know it is also your choice to invite the light into your heart, mind, and spirit that God offers to guide you out of your darkness? We all start out in darkness with a sin nature but if you decide to stay there, you will become spiritually blind.

Spiritual blindness is the inability to see God because of a lack of belief in Him and in His Word. To remain in your blindness is insisting that you see perfectly fine on your own with no need for a Savior. That is called pride. He will leave you in your blindness because you are rejecting His grace to give you the eyes to see and the mind to understand the truth.

Pride hinders your spiritual sight because you put your faith in your own ability to do things that are beyond your strength. It comes from having too high of an opinion of yourself. You need God’s help. The moment you humble yourself and ask Him to help you see, He gives you His light and you no longer have to walk in darkness.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 

Often times, if a person’s life is consumed with their sin, they will not go anywhere near the light because their sin will be exposed. Rejecting the light that God offers to lead you out of your blindness results in a further hardening of your heart in unbelief. It slowly becomes more and more difficult to see, hear, and comprehend the truth.

The Apostle Paul found this to be true when he spoke to some of the Jewish leaders…

And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, ‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ Acts 28:25-27

Delivered from Darkness

Why are there so many spiritually blind people all around us?

Satan, the god of this world, is desperately fighting to keep anyone he can from being able to understand God’s truth, see His light, and experience His grace. He wants to keep people from hearing the Good News…the news that they can be completely forgiven of all their sins and live in freedom. If he can do that, he knows they will stay in bondage to their sin.

Satan is the ruler of darkness and would love nothing more than to rule over as many people as possible, holding them captive in total darkness with him. And he has been successful with quite a large number of them.

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4

It is only by the power of God and His grace that you can be delivered from this darkness.

When you make God the Ruler of your life, He protects you from the god of this world, keeping you in the light and taking away your spiritual blindness so you can understand His liberating truths.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:16

I follow a blog written by a radiant woman named Beth Eckert who used to be heavily into the occult and witchcraft for several years in her search for truth and meaning in life. She had experienced deep depression, hopelessness, and total despair.

Living a life in darkness did not bring her the freedom Satan deceptively made her think it would. So, after years of disillusionment she finally took action and started on a journey of finding the truth – the truth about who God really is. God answered her fervent prayers and took away her spiritual blindness, giving her perfect vision and the true freedom for which she had been desperately searching.

“It is an amazing miracle, what Jesus has done for my life. He has brought me hope and healing for the first time ever.” 

“I am indeed a new creation, redeemed by the light and the glory of Christ. I am in awe of what He has done for me.”  – Beth Eckert

The name of her blog is so fitting…The Other Side of Darkness; My Journey into the Light

Beth took action to know God in a personal way and continues to do so every day. If you want strong, spiritual vision you must also take action. Spending time regularly talking to God and taking time to listen to Him by reading what He has to say to you through His Word will deepen your relationship. It is a relationship that begins here on earth and will continue into eternity.

You will slowly begin to see your blindness fade away. And it will be replaced with razor-sharp, unobstructed spiritual vision…something we all greatly need if we are to stay out of the darkness and live a life of freedom offered to us by our gracious Savior, the Light of the world.

Spiritual Sparklers

Sparkler #1: Prayer

If you are living in darkness, ask God for His light to shine brightly so you can see spiritual truths with perfect vision. Humbly offer all of your pride to God so He can clearly show you your need for Him.

Sparkler #2: Action

Strengthen your relationship with God by making it a priority to spend time reading His Word each day and talking to Him about your life. He loves you so much and wants you to include Him in every part of it!

Sparkler #3: Challenge

If your veil has been removed and you see God’s truth with perfect vision, share your testimony with those you know who are spiritually blind and need to hear the Good News of God’s grace to deliver them from darkness.

*Colored pencils – photo credit: MichaelMaggs

Kimberly Moore is a blogger, speaker, and author of Beauty in a Life Repurposed and Kingdom Sparkle. To learn more, visit her website at kingdomsparkle.com.

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