Rose-Coloured Glasses

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (KJV)

Back in the late 1980s, a friend had a pair of eyeglasses, which turned a rose colour when she went out into the sun. This, in turn, made everything she looked at the same colour. I tried on those "rose-coloured glasses" once, but I didn't think much of them. Not only is rose not my favourite colour, but coloured lenses cause one to miss the beauty of the various colour combinations and contrasts.

The expression that someone "sees the world through rose-coloured glasses" implies that the person lives in something of a fantasy world, seeing only the good things in life, choosing not to see or acknowledge anything unpleasant. In other words, their world is rosy all the time. That wouldn't be my choice.

From a very early age, I saw, repeatedly, the incredible strength family and friends found through faith as they experienced setbacks and losses, especially the many times that friends suffered what was perhaps life's worst loss — the loss of their child. It is in the learning through life's experiences, in the contrasts of good and bad, happy and sad, up and down, beauty and ugliness, birth and death, that we grow. It is through these things that we gain understanding and compassion. We build strength where once we were weak, and courage where we were fearful.

Having a positive attitude, or finding even one good thing amidst the very worst, is far different from seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses. God hasn't said to us that our world would stay the same from day to day, or that we could expect it to be always rosy — otherwise, we might all have been born with a pair of those rose-coloured glasses. But when things aren't the same, when things aren't rosy, when our world is turned upside down, when we're scared, what He has said to us, is, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee." We must continue to trust Him, and not be afraid.

Prayer: Help us learn to trust, Lord, that You will be with us always. Help us to see that You cannot and will not stop us from experiencing life, but that You will be with us throughout it, as our strength when we are weak, and our courage when we are afraid. In Your name we pray. Amen.

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