Hidden Pictures.

It used to be a Sunday morning ritual. I would go out to get the paper, and promptly look at three sections: Sports, Dear Abby, and the Sunday Comics. I never outgrew the Sunday comics. It just seems that the best way to start your day is with a laugh. I did this for years, right up until they started publishing those “hidden picture” puzzles.

You see, there was (is?) this thing in the comics where you are supposed to look at this series of dots and squiggly lines and see a hidden picture. The directions tell you to put the picture to your nose, slowly move it away from your face, and Eureka…you will see the hidden picture! The problem is that I have yet to see anything except dots and squiggly lines.

There were times in department stores when my friends and I would walk up on one of these works of "trainwreck art." After sharing that I can't see anything, they would say, "you mean you don't see that dinosaur eating the Buick LeSabre?!?!" And I’d just stand there feeling like a third grader trying to do Chinese arithmetic.

I was recently encouraged to find out that some people can see these images and others cannot. It has to do with their eyesight development. So it's not my fault that I cannot see the hidden picture, my eyes just aren't developed for it…and that’s my parent’s fault, right?. . .

. . . My frustration when trying to see the hidden pictures has made me a more understanding Bible teacher. I realize the angst and aggravation involves in not seeing things the way others do. There are things in the Bible that seem as clear as a Time magazine photo, and nearly everyone gets it. Yet, there are some things in there that are like the hidden picture; some folks see them and others do not.

If I have just described you, here's some advice. Don't allow your frustration to rob you of your joy in God's word. . . just wait for God to develop you. Don't give up trying to see the unseen, it's worth the effort. And just because something is unclear doesn't mean that it's too "deep" for you. . . it may just be "muddy. No matter what, don't give up!