Superman had it. So do other super-heroes. Some super weapons have it, too, like the "rail gun" in the Arnold classic, "Eraser." It's X-ray vision and it seems very cool. But isn't that just the stuff of comic books and movies? Not! X-ray vision is real! I have actually experienced it, and it is way better than the comics.
Here's how it works. I can read a passage from the Bible and not see anything special. I am sure there is special stuff in there, I'm just not seeing it. Then, I get immersed in pain. Not the hit your thumb with a hammer stuff, but the emotional pain of rejection, unjust criticism, being misrepresented, and getting in way over my head. When I am in anguish of heart, I can return to the same passage and verse after verse leaps off the page like it was blinking neon. Where did this come from? Why didn't I see it before? Answer: Pain produces X-ray vision!
Now don't get me wrong. I am not going to tell you that I LIKE pain. But I will tell you that I LOVE what it produces, the ability to look through the words on a page and see something God wants to show me. I am not alone in this perspective. Here's what the Psalmist says: "It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes" (Ps. 119:71). The Bible comes alive when we are afflicted. So whenever I am in pain - I grab my Bible and spy out what God is saying before my X-ray vision wears off!
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