Around this time last year, I was diagnosed with a cataract in one of my eyes. In the beginning, it was a minor inconvenience. But as we entered the new year, I experienced a sudden and significant decline in my vision. The words on a page have become blurry, and familiar objects across the room have lost their sharp edges. This daily struggle has been frustrating, but it has also given me a profound, newfound appreciation for the simple gift of sight—a gift I had so often taken for granted.
This personal journey with my physical sight has led my heart to meditate on one of the most dramatic conversion stories in Scripture: the story of Saul on the road to Damascus.
Saul of Tarsus was a man of immense conviction and zeal. He was utterly convinced that he was doing God’s work by persecuting the followers of Jesus. In his own eyes, he saw things with perfect clarity. He was righteous, and the Christians were a threat to the faith of his ancestors. He was on a mission he believed to be holy, armed with his own self-assurance and pride.
But on that road to Damascus, Saul was confronted by a light so brilliant it dwarfed the midday sun—the glorious light of the risen Christ. This encounter left him physically blind. (Acts 9:3-4, 9) The man who thought he saw everything so clearly could suddenly see nothing at all. For three days, he was in total darkness, helpless and dependent, forced to be led by the hand like a child.
His physical blindness was a powerful and painful reflection of his spiritual blindness. He had been blind to the truth of Jesus, blind to the love of God, and blind to his own pride that masqueraded as piety. It was only in this moment of complete darkness and vulnerability that his heart could finally be prepared to truly see. When Ananias came and prayed for him, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. (Acts 9:17-18)
But this was not a return to his old sight. It was an entirely new vision. He no longer saw a criminal to be persecuted; he saw a Savior to be proclaimed. He no longer saw himself as a righteous judge; he saw himself as a redeemed sinner, saved by grace. This new sight transformed him so completely that even his name was changed. Saul the persecutor was reborn as Paul the apostle, a humble yet powerful instrument in expanding God’s kingdom. His greatest mission began only after his sight was taken away and then restored.
How often are we, like Saul, so convinced of our own “rightness”? We can be blind in our judgments of others, in our career ambitions, or in our own stubborn plans. We think we see clearly, but we may be completely blind to what God is trying to show us.
This week, I encourage you to prayerfully ask God, “Lord, what am I not seeing? Where is my pride or my prejudice preventing me from seeing Your truth and Your will for my life?” When you face moments of confusion, struggle, or helplessness—don’t just see them as hardships. Consider them your own “Damascus Road.” These are the very moments when God can strip away our self-reliance and open our spiritual eyes to our dependence on Him. And let’s pray not just for our circumstances to change, but for our vision to be renewed. When God restores our sight, we, like Paul, are not meant to return to our old ways. My prayer is that the Lord would remove any scales from our eyes, so that we may see Him, ourselves, and His world with a new and holy clarity.
On a personal note, with the church’s support, I will be going to South Korea for a few weeks to have cataract surgery. I would appreciate your prayers.
