Cataract Surgery: Devotion for October 20

“Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.” — Jonah 1:5

We don’t often talk about Jonah. But what a story it is. It’s full of drama, humor, irony, and grace. There’s so much to unpack that it can be hard to know where to focus.

What catches my attention, though, is that strange moment when Jonah falls asleep. The storm is raging, the ship is creaking, sailors are panicking—and Jonah, the man who caused all the chaos, is sound asleep in the hold.

It’s almost unbelievable. But isn’t that how life often works? The one who causes the havoc seems completely unaware of the wreckage they’ve left behind. The rest of us are left scrambling, trying to steady the ship.

If I’m honest, maybe there’s a bit of Jonah in me too.

It’s so easy to drift into that “it’s all about me” mindset. Like Jonah, I don’t always want to do things God’s way. I hear his call, but I run—though not by boarding a ship. I run by staying busy. I fill my schedule, tell myself that once I finish this project or once that season calms down, then I’ll have more time for prayer, worship, or stillness.

And sometimes I even convince myself that my plan is better than God’s plan. Because surely I know what’s best, right?

You know those floaters you sometimes see in your eyes? Try focusing on one—it’s impossible. It slips away every time. I think that’s what happens when we fix our gaze on the wrong things. We spend our energy chasing distractions that never stay still and never satisfy.

My mom had cataract surgery in her seventies. Before the surgery, her world had grown cloudy. Afterward, she was amazed by how bright and sharp everything looked again. That’s a picture of what happens to our souls. The world clouds our vision—like a cataract of the heart.

Jesus said,

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.” — Matthew 6:22–23

Worship, prayer, and time in God’s Word are like spiritual cataract surgery. They clear away the cloudiness. They wake us up from our self-centered slumber. They let the light in.

When we turn toward God, our focus shifts—from the fleeting to the eternal, from the self to the Savior.

When I think of Jonah now, I picture Michelangelo’s Jonah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Painted between 1508 and 1512, Jonah sits high above the altar—his body twisted, his eyes lifted toward heaven, and the great fish curling beneath him.

Michelangelo placed Jonah at the highest point of the ceiling for a reason. Jonah’s story is one of rebellion and return, of blindness and awakening. His posture—turning upward, almost straining toward the light—captures that moment when the prophet who once ran away finally looks back to God.

Above the altar, Jonah becomes a symbol of resurrection. Just as Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish and was given a second chance, Christ would spend three days in the tomb before rising to new life. Michelangelo’s Jonah reminds us that no matter how far we run or how deep we sink, God’s mercy reaches farther still.

And maybe that’s what spiritual vision really is—the ability to see grace where we once saw only storm.

May you have cataract surgery today.May your soul be full of light.May you, like Jonah, lift your eyes toward heaven and find that the light has been there all along—waiting for you to wake up and see.

Featured art: Jonah by Michelangelo, 1508-1512