A few weeks ago, it was time to switch my old contact lenses for new ones. When I put a brand new one in my eye, it tore. The contact is supposed to last me a month, and I didn’t want to waste it, so figured I’d just wear it torn. My husband told me to put a new one on, but I stubbornly didn’t listen and thought I knew better. Normally, you can’t feel contacts in your eye, but the last few weeks, I could feel the discomfort of it in my eye and just tried to live with it. This morning came, and I was at a prayer meeting and it was uncomfortable, so I rubbed my eye, and about two-thirds of the torn contact came out, and one-third was left in my eye. So here I am trying to wash the piece out, with my eye of course in irritation, and I’m worried that the little piece is left in my eye. Now I can only see out of my right eye for the rest of the meeting, as my vision is blurred and my left eye is very irritated and hurting. It’s hard for me to focus and it became a complete distraction during the prayer meeting. It was hindering me from seeing clearly and I didn’t feel safe to drive home because everything was blurry. I went home, took my other contact out, washed my eye out again, and put my new contacts on with a sigh of relief that now I could see clearly and unhindered. 

I felt Holy Spirit speak:

‘Wearing the torn contact represented disobedience, as you thought you knew better than Me. It was irritating and distracting, and hindering you from being completely free, especially being able to see clearly. If you had obeyed and put the new one on, there would have been no pain, suffering, discomfort, or being distracted in My prayer meeting.’ 

I was brought to 1 Samuel 15, where the Lord rejected Saul as King because of his disobedience. The Lord gave him very specific instructions in verse 3: ‘Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ Saul did not obey according to verse 9: ‘But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. They were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.’ To this, Samuel responded in verses 22-23: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’

Mothers have one of the most sacrificial jobs in the world. They sacrifice their body, their hobbies, their sleep, their time, and ultimately their life for their children. Most people can relate to and have heard the phrase, ‘a mother would sacrifice anything for her child.’ It is an absolutely beautiful calling and now being a mother of four. I can say it is very hard not to be sacrificial as a mother! I can say, ‘Lord, look, I have a clean house, my kids are eating healthy meals, being taken care of and even excelling at different activities. I invest everything into them and have sacrificed my life for them!’ However, what if the Lord is asking me to do something, and I am not obeying? My obedience unto Him is far more important than sacrifice. It’s not just about external actions, but our heart’s posture before the Lord. I believe He wants us as mothers, to hear his voice and obey what He says, so that we can have clarity, freedom and vision in our lives. I believe He is giving us an opportunity right now to repent and say, ‘Where have I missed it Lord? When did I hear Your Spirit say to do something and I ignored You? Did I disobey in an area of my life that is hindering my destiny and calling?’ The amazing thing about the Lord is that He can turn anything around for His good — beauty for ashes — if we missed it or sinned against Him in this way. We need to remove the torn contact lens that is causing discomfort and impaired vision and further distraction from being in disobedience. The time is now — to put the fresh lenses on! Mothers who have unwavering obedience unto Christ will seamlessly pass that obedience onto their children. Then, there will be a generation of sons and daughters rising up as an army in Him: full of perfect vision, clarity and freedom to walk in alignment with their destiny and their calling!

‘Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

Hebrews 12:1-2