Visual Lessons

God is teaching, but learning requires attentive eyes and/or ears. Truthfully, there isn't a moment God isn't teaching, but there are countless moments when His students aren't aware. Momentary awareness could result in a life transforming experience.
Here's one of those moments I witnessed that really left an impression.

Our 2-month-old son has torticollis (twisted column), which sounds much worse than it really is. Actually, this is a fairly common condition due to infants sleeping on their back and repeatedly favoring one side of their head completely turned with chin touching the shoulder. (This is a combination of very little research mixed with my reasoning as to how this occurs and its effects.) After a while the muscles in the neck and upper back region will begin to tighten up and make it uncomfortable for them to face the opposite way, and their head will eventually become misshapen; due to the spine attempting to keep the cranium facing forward, or at most seventy degrees to the to the nearest shoulder. However, a few months of physical therapy and due diligence of the caretakers usually corrects and leaves no evidence of this condition.

So, one evening my wife positioned our son so he would have to turn his head the other direction to see her face, and he was doing everything in his power to turn his body but not his head to see my wife’s face. As I watched this went on for fifteen minutes, he would squirm to allow his body to turn, but not his head to see my wife’s face; then, she would repositioned him and hold his body so he would have to turn his head to see her face.

No doubt there was discomfort for him when he turned his head the other way. My wife was only doing what was necessary to help strengthen muscles on one side and relax them on the other side of his neck, shoulders, and upper back. Beneficial in the long run, but he only felt the immediate discomfort of turning his head, so he immediately responded by moving his head back to a comfortable position, but wanted to keep his eyes on my wife. Eventually, he gave up trying to squirm free of my wife’s hold and keeping his eyes on my wife must not have been worth the discomfort of turning his head. So, he just looked at the floor.

How often am I hell-bent in my mind to keep my eyes on God, but I’m unwilling to let discomfort strengthen me. So, I avoid the discomfort or run from it once uncertainty emerges or become discouraged during discomfort and uncertainty and give up seeking His holy face. When all He is trying to do is strengthen me for the future He has carefully planned.