Window Pains

It’s curious how MS Windows and Apple’s Macintosh GUI concepts changed communication and how we engage with machines and other humans outside of our 15” LCD screens.  Millions of people, well frankly billions of people every day, turn on their computers or their media devices and click, page, scroll and swipe their way from window to window, searching for business information, entertainment and yes even social relationships – all of which can become dangerously addictive.

Proverbs 29:18a says; “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  I like the King James Version of this passage because I think “perish” is ultimately what happens to us when we do not see as God sees.  Unless you were born blind or suffered an injury or disease that rendered you blind, all of us no matter how myopic we may be – see something.  We all have vision.

Albeit my vision isn’t what it used to be, I now use bifocals and actually need a new prescription even as I type and squint.  But regardless how many more checkups and new prescriptions, I still have vision.  And I am grateful every day I wake and reach over to find my friendly black Ray Bans sitting on the night stand.  With my glasses I can better interface with the world around me.  I can use my vision to actually live life.

I had this thought yesterday.  Windows are a nice feature to have in a home.  They’re a nice feature to have on the front of a store so passersby can window shop.  They’re very nice if you’re fortunate enough to have one in your prison cell, I guess many don’t.

Yet if I could find one thing not good about windows it’s the fact that when you are inside and want to be outside and cannot get there, the window is simply a means by which your tortured desires are held at bay.  That’s really why I don’t do the Mall thing unless I absolutely have a specific piece of merchandise I’m going to purchase.  I don’t like browsing and looking at stuff I cannot afford.  I don’t like to torment or tempt myself.  There’s just no reason for doing such a thing, in my opinion.

My point is this: Windows can be good, because they allow for glorious views of a beautiful world beyond that where we stand.  Yet windows, like any vehicle for vision can become painful reminders of the things just beyond our reach.  Those things beyond the glass that may never be reached or even touch.

Now granted, most of us, upon seeing something of interest or desire beyond the glass, we simply find a door and go engage the images as seen beyond the glare.  For most of us, we don’t think twice or even consider Window Pains; the pain of something outside your grasp.

These pains are produced when vision is unfulfilled.  These pains are ones felt when a God breathed vision is delayed by the dereliction of human indecision or ill-decision.  These Window Pains are what drove Abraham and Sarah to crash the glass of God’s time table and act upon impulse to actuate what clearly became painful and sublime.  Although God promised, the waiting became the glass that separated them from their lofty desires.  Window Pains are when we’ve seen the Promised Land but have a Jordan deep and wide between us and the bank of desire.

If we’re not careful, Window Pains can mask the alternative – that is death.  God has told us that without vision, a divine revelation, heavenly view of life, or a seeing-things-as-He-sees-them outlook; we run like blind men through a wooded glen.  It’s dangerous and often deadly.  Frankly, if we refuse to see things God’s way, we will ultimately and eternally die.  Oh we may not know it right away, but we perish nonetheless.

As we look out of the windows of our life, as we look to the ever changing horizon of our vision, may we understand that Window Pains are just part of the journey.  Having His promises delayed, may bring a measure of pain, Window Pains, as we look out to what we believe is ours yet not received.  We reach and can’t touch.  We see but can’t know.

Window Pains; it’s what Proverbs 13:12 describes.  When hope is deferred, the heart gets a sick feeling.  But when desire and longing of His greater good for our lives is fulfilled, it’s like a tree of life.  It’s a place where pain abates and gain awaits.  It’s a place of peace and satisfaction.

The next time you feel some Window Pains, know that it’s all part of His plan.  It’s all part of the process of growth and obedience.  In the moment of Window Pains, know that Father knows best.  All pain will cease as we finally encounter the truth of connection – in His perfect time.

Window Pains?  We all have them!