Our Divine Windshield Wiper

Isaiah 35:5a – Then will the eyes of the blind be opened. (NIV)

Isaiah 42:18b – Look, you blind, and see! (NIV)

For some peculiar reason, I kept missing my destination. I couldn't understand why. I had often driven to that property, which was nearly impossible to miss. Yet that day, I failed to see it — repeatedly. Finally, I realized that it was pointless to repeat the route, so I stopped and parked the car. I walked to a nearby riverbank, where I stood listening to the gurgling water. A gentle rain had begun falling. After a few moments and a plea to God, I returned to the car — not yet knowing that God had designed this entire episode to show me more than my destination.

When I returned to the car, I noticed that a misty film now covered the windshield, occluding my view completely. I turned on the wipers, and instantly, I could see. That's when I suddenly saw God as a windshield wiper. It occurred to me that I needed God to wipe mistiness from my eyes so that I could recognize spiritual realities.

Ever since that episode, I've suspected that it was God who cleared the windshield of my mind so that I could again recognize my destination, and it was likely God who kept me from seeing the obvious in the first place. Sometimes, God does that. Think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who couldn't recognize the risen Christ walking with them:

Luke 24:16 – But they were kept from recognizing him. (NIV)

Perhaps, God occluded their sight because they were seeing their Messiah merely with human understanding, not for who He truly was. Thus, He was a stranger to them. That day, as they walked down the road, Jesus became a windshield wiper, clearing their misty eyes by recalling Scriptures and explaining how His suffering and death were the fulfillment of promise. Both disciples would have been familiar with those Scriptures, but now, they saw them clearly. Now, they could recognize Jesus for who He truly was: the promised Messiah.

Luke 24:31a – Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. (NIV)

This was surely a double miracle — both the obstructing of sight and the restoring of sight. Maybe that's what happened to me. I needed to see my everyday road trips down the fast lane of life with more than just a human perspective. I needed to be stopped so that I could ponder over that.

Since then, I've discovered that Scripture often speaks of God as the One who obstructs vision.

John 12:40 – He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn — and I would heal them. (NIV)

That's the same God who, through His Spirit, opens eyes to see spiritual truth, even for us today.

Isaiah 29:18b – Out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. (NIV)

Prayer: Lord, we invite You to perform miracles in our vision — that our spiritual sensitivity may grow clearer day by day. Amen.