I am honored to present this interview with Ciara Lane Myers, author of Glasses Off: God When Your Vision is Gone!
Ciara Laine Myers the author of Glasses Off: God When Your Vision Is Gone. She loves her family and friends, and she loves to read. Like you, she’s not just one thing. She’s a mother and an award-winning business owner. You can find her in the pages of this book and in Prosper, Texas, where she lives with her husband Paul, her daughters Audri and Averi, and her dog Zoey.
1) What inspired you to write Glasses off? First books can certainly be difficult and I know that it’s a difficult task, how did you overcome the challenges?
The title of the book inspired my writing. Let me give you some context…
I was creating content for brands and for my blog, and working on our family business, while raising my two kiddos. I felt the Lord tell me to, “Stop the digital work.” I ignored that prompting for as long as I could. Why would He want me to stop doing this work I was doing? It was honorable work, and it gave me the flexibility to be home and to be creative. Yet, this impression never left. So, I stopped the digital work, but I didn’t feel as peaceful as I thought I would. I felt like I’d thrown the future of my business away, like it was such an irrational decision. One day, I was “angry praying” and before I could finish my prayer, God interrupted my little pity party with another prompting, a random book title this time, “Glasses Off: Seeing God When Your Vision Is Gone.” Imagine me in this moment years ago, frustrated and confused, with no context from God, just one out-of-the-blue book title. I was not an author at the time. So, I thought, God wants me to buy that book because He’s going to take away my vision! I’m going blind and I need to prepare! Yes, I took it literally! I spent hours scared and researching books about physical eyesight. By the grace of God, He soon revealed to me, “I’m not asking you to buy a book; I’m asking you to write one.”
I started writing immediately. One year later, while I was in a writing competition, they asked us to summarize our book with one word. I asked my husband for his opinion, “What do you think my book is about, if you could only use one word?” He answered, “It’s about vision.” Then everything clicked for me. God was calling me to write about spiritual blindness and clear vision. Talk about an aha moment. I scrapped 24,000 words and I kept writing. Now, I was inspired to write the book I needed to read. Remember, I had stopped blogging and creating content. My audience was no longer there. Agencies were no longer paying me. God was calling me to a brand-new industry (to write books) with no connections, no English degrees, and nothing to go on but faith. I knew that I wasn’t the only person in the world who needed a fresh message — not only about hope — but also about clarity and discernment and practical steps. Things that I could realistically offer readers because it’s what I was learning in real time: the insecurities, the doubts, the longing, they were all-consuming. So, I wrote this book, Glasses Off, for two types of people: 1) those whom God has chosen to fulfill something while on Earth but they’re not quite sure how to follow through and 2) those people who don’t feel special enough to look for a calling in the first place. It’s a personal and professional blueprint all about how God reveals visions to us, and how we can follow through.
2) How were you able to overcome the apprehension and doubts while seeking God’s calling on your life?
Daily prayer and meta cognition (thinking about thinking). Instead of putting the pen down and walking away from my desk out of fear, I thought, I’m about to put the pen down and walk away from my desk out of fear. That awareness helped me pursue the calling even as self-doubt crept in. I learned to see those insecure thoughts as they were, just thoughts. I chose to step away from them, sometimes daily, and to focus on what was true instead. Perfectionism often led me to believe that the thing I was doing was a matter of life and death. While it’s certainly true that the result of a God-given vision is a matter of spiritual life and death, that outcome is ultimately up to God. I cannot save a human soul. I can only do my little part, my half of the equation. And most of the time, my part is not an immediate life or death situation. God has not called me to be a neurosurgeon. I am not a first responder. I’m a writer. It’s important work. I’m not downplaying how powerful words can be, but no one will finish my book and fall over dead because I chose a certain adjective over another. I’ve been close to death myself and I can assure you that in those last moments, what’s running through your head is not so shallow. How is my work going to be perceived? Is this project perfect yet? Death brings out the deeper issues in all of us. There’s an awareness of greater things. The stakes are higher, and there’s a fuller sense of what really matters. That spiritual conviction and sense of urgency and eternal perspective helps me get out of my way, and it helps me remember to do my part and to let God be God!
3) Was there a specific challenge you faced on your path to your purpose? How were you able to overcome that challenge?
I was diagnosed with epilepsy during my formative years. I had my first grand-mal seizure after prom in front of all my friends. I went on to have multiple seizures throughout my lifetime. Dealing with these seizures and medications, and the side effects from the medications, these things are not fun, and they can often feel isolating. In my early twenties, I found myself in a season of single motherhood, working and raising a toddler during the time in life when others are building skills, networking, and figuring out what they are good at or what they want to do in the world. I didn’t have that luxury. And, actually, a lot of people don’t. So, like most of us, I took the first job that I was offered. I sat in traffic for hours and I kept my daughter up past normal bedtime so that we could spend quality time together. I cried a lot during those years, but I grew closer to the Lord. Now that I’m in my thirties, I’ve been through one miscarriage, different types of abuse, and other health issues. Life’s challenges have made me grow up quickly. They have made me resilient, and they have showed me where my priorities are. I decided to let the adversities, the intense heat of life, shape me into a diamond. I couldn’t afford to let it stifle me anymore. We all have trauma, and we all have pain. The good news is that these difficult challenges can help us develop deeper empathy for others, and we begin to see humanity the way Jesus does.
4) In Chapter One, you talk about God’s Unique vision for each individual, how can our readers tap into this vision in order to better understand their specific calling?
I think there’s a wide spectrum of people who struggle with this. Some are on the far end of it, whole-heartedly believing that they are made in God’s image, and always on the lookout for God’s unique plan for their lives. Sometimes jumping from thing to thing fearlessly grasping for His will. To those people, I would say that your lack of resistance to change is uncommon and amazing, and I would also encourage you to stay committed to one thing long enough to build relevant skills, all the while listening and praying for discernment. Personally speaking, I’ve found that God’s promptings are usually strange, and not something I would have come up with. They also feel more urgent than my other dreams and ideas. I often make a list of all my ideas and rate the sense of urgency I feel from 1–10 next to each idea. If the sense of urgency is at a ten, if the idea aligns with Scripture, if it’s something out-of-the-blue, and if you feel a strong conviction that never fully leaves you, I think you should pay attention to that. You could be sensing something supernatural.
The other end of the spectrum is filled with people who genuinely don’t believe that God cares about them uniquely. Let alone that He has something He wants to accomplish through them. To those people, I would say, I’ve been there and that may be how you feel, but that is not the truth. You can use the triangle diagram in Chapter Two for practical help.
5) Could you share some tips to help the readers who are struggling to trust God’s plan?
I don’t know about you, but God never gives me a plan. Life is like a hallway. Like a chain effect, we walk through the first door, and the next, and the next. God sees our small acts of obedience and He says, “I could trust you with a few things, so I can trust you with many things. Here’s your next door.” I’ve learned to be able to trust in God’s next door because I can trust in Him. Because He is trustworthy. We all know people who are genuinely unworthy of our trust, men and women who manipulate others for their selfish gain. It’s off-putting and it makes it hard to believe their “sincerity.” But God is not a pushy salesman. He has nothing to prove. He’s truth and love and He’s not going to try to convince us to buy into His scheme. People end up betraying us whether they mean to or not, because they are human. Not only is God not a pushy salesman, but God is also not a human being. He’s perfect in every way, so why would we not trust in His bigger plan. He can’t make a mistake. He uses everything for good, for His benefit, and for the benefit of others.
6) Chapter two introduces readers to the “Purpose, Calling, Vision” diagram. How can this diagram help individuals in clarifying their life’s directions?
I was drowning in those lofty concepts, those buzzwords: purpose, calling, and vision. My friends and family didn’t have that same tension. It made me feel childish, but I knew that wasn’t really true. Instead, I decided to pay attention to it because I knew that God is always close to the brokenhearted and that I should take that time as my opportunity for growth. I read self-help books, I studied dictionaries, and I read every bible verse surrounding those three words. I set out on a mission to figure out what they meant on a granular level. One day, God gave me a visual diagram. He said, “Draw a standard triangle. At the top of the triangle, write the word God. Follow the line down until you run into the next point and write the word Jesus. To the right, the final point, add the words Holy Spirit.” Then, I felt Him continue, “Look at the drawing now. You have God at the very top (the Creator of the universe). Everything starts with Me and flows from Me, including Jesus (God’s son) and the Holy Spirit (the Spirit that lives in you).” Then He went on, “Draw a second triangle. Label the top “Purpose” and the left, “Calling” and the right “Vision.” Now, think of purpose, calling, and vision as another three-in-one bundle. Just as I am the origin of everything for all of time and eternity, purpose is the origin of your day-to-day life here on earth. You don’t have to find your purpose. The purpose is daily communion with Me, learning more about Me, and sharing Me with others. Out of our daily time together, your callings and visions will be revealed. From purpose, then and only then will these things flow. So, I decided to draw a third triangle. If purpose is the reason why we play the game, then the calling is the space, the field, the stage, the classroom, or anywhere that we can live out the why. Which means that vision is the playbook, it’s how God reveals to us what should be done.
You can find detailed information in Chapter two.
7) Chapter five points out the difference between being a dreamer and being a visionary. Can you explain what that difference is? Why is it important that we make our dreams become more tangible?
This concept was born from a conversation I had with one of my best friends. We were sitting on the back of her tailgate, overlooking a body of water and I was crying. I expressed to her my concern for following an idea that I felt was from the Lord. I told her that I didn’t want to be somebody with a dream who was too afraid to pursue it. That many people do things in the world but don’t allow themselves to dream and others dream all day but don’t do anything about it. She looked me directly in the eyes and said, “You’re both. You’re a dreamer and a doer.” Immediately after our conversation, I wrote Chapter five. I figured out that if I kept this idea as a dream inside my heart, it was a selfish act because no one could benefit from it. But if I moved through the dreaming, and I turned it into a vision — which is taking the immaterial and materializing it — other people could benefit from my little dream. I don’t think the two are opposing. I don’t think it’s dreaming versus doing. I think it should be both. It’s clear from the bible that God speaks to some of us in dreams. I wrote about one of the dreams He gave me in Chapter seven. I think if we stop at the dreaming, then it becomes a problem. So, as hard as it is, I’m committed to being the kind of person who does both. It’s important to make our dreams tangible because of God’s example to us. He’s the ultimate visionary. What if He stopped at the dreaming? Then you and I wouldn’t be here. Everything in life begins with vision and vision begins with Him. Meaning, we get to know God first before we try to be used by Him.
8) You share seven practical steps to help readers embrace and fulfill God’s vision? Could you give our readers a brief overview?
I call this seven-step system, “The Vision Journey.” 1) Recognize the vision. Which dream has the most potential to showcase God’s love? Which one do you sense God’s presence in? Which one is the most urgent idea? Which dream could provide value to someone else? 2) Confirm that the vision is from God. Pray for confirmation constantly and listen for it. “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” If we skip this step, if we jump straight from recognizing a vision to processing it out loud with others, it manipulates the vision into something else, something we are wishing for rather than what God created it to be. We don’t power over a God-given vision until we pray to God about it. 3) Involve others. “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” When you start involving other people in the idea, you’re held publicly accountable for that assignment, and they can offer prayer and different perspectives. 4) Dream and design the vision. Visualize the specifics as if there are no limitations. I call this the Mary Poppins step. What would you do and how would you complete this vision if you were limitless? 5) Plan and put in the work. Take those dreamy-dream steps and turn them into doable, action items with the resources available to you. This is the time for researching, budgeting, and practical things. I call this the Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness step. Prepare, plan, strategize. “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” 6) Update the plan as needed. Being open to redirection. Not clinging so tightly onto the original dream, but letting God grow it and shape it. Walking through a vision from God teaches me things like discipline, steadfastness, creativity, obedience, resourcefulness, and maturity. So, the last step in “The Vision Journey” (step 7) is to pursue the vision at all costs until God decides it’s over.
9) Chapter Nine introduces readers to what you call momentum formula. Can you explain the momentum formula to our readers and how it can help readers push forward when the things God is pushing them towards seems difficult?
We need momentum. We’re so tired and life is hard and on top of that, usually the things that God asks from us are also hard. As I get older, I can see that much of life is simply the willingness to show up for it and that my tangible, daily actions build momentum. So, I thought, I’ve got to develop a formula for when life gets hard. That way, I can press through instead of trying to go around in some shortcut way. I learned the definition of momentum because that’s what I needed. Momentum = Force + strength + speed. Then, I made a spiritual formula to parallel the scientific one, my own formula to motivate myself and prepare myself for the challenges ahead.
In my formula, force = pressure.
In every God-given vision, there’s pressure. I can either crumble under the weight of it or I can let it simmer there and help propel me forward.
Strength = self-discipline.
For a while, I thought God only used the naturals, the beautifully gifted and talented people. I decided that I would build skills instead of overvaluing my natural ability. I think skills are more useful than being a beautiful natural at something.
Speed = God’s timing.
Even if I work well under pressure, and I build all the right skills, it’s still dependent on God’s sovereign timing.
10) In Glasses off, you talk about having a “daily date with God.” What does your daily date with God usually look like? Why is it important to talk to God Daily?
Jesus met people where they were. He went on walks. He prayed in gardens and on mountain tops. So, I take His lead and keep my Daily Date With God fresh. Journaling, paying attention to nature, praying in my closet, worshiping in the shower and in the car, dancing, listening for Him, studying His Word, celebrating life, loving people, and sharing insight with my children. Each day looks different, and each day is beautiful.
Sometimes I read the Bible in the morning, but sometimes it’s late at night or in the afternoon. I started reading from a study bible ten years ago because I love the written Word. Throughout the years, I realized something important, that God’s ways always seemed mysterious because I could never grasp His will and I always wanted to, and I finally realized that was the problem. That I was reading the Bible as a how-to manual, like He was a big sky genie that would reveal what I needed to do every step of the way. Once I started reading the Bible differently, everything changed. I allowed myself to be open-minded about Him because I’m open-minded about other things. Every day, I showed up to my daily date with God, (DDG for short). Lord, if you’re real and if you care about me at all, meet me here. I started worshipping and praying and reading (not only to figure out His will) but to discover Him. To get to know His character. I wrote somewhere in the book that, I stumbled into intimacy when all that I was looking for was information. That’s entirely true. Once I started growing closer to God and I didn’t care about “finding His will” anymore, then He started to reveal things to me which was so ironic.
11) If a reader is struggling with feeling stuck or unsure of their life’s purpose what advice would you give?
I’ll bet that every day you’re anxious, yet every day you’re taken care of. Please know that you’re not alone. There are other people out there like you. I was one of them. I don’t think you’re childish. I don’t think you’re wrong. I don’t think you need to grow up. You need to pay attention to this tension inside of you, and you need to take this time as an opportunity for change. You need to figure out what your DDG (Daily Date With God) could look like. If you commit to learning about Him, then you’ll grow in confidence, and He will begin to reveal things to you. I was stuck and unsure for years and I’m on the other side of it now. I wrote the book for myself and for you. I’m in the process of marketing it now, not so I can become rich and famous, but so that the right reader can find it. I hope the words hit them in a way they didn’t expect, and they can become inspired and equipped.
12) In Glasses off, you speak to the underdog and the unlikely victor. What is the message you hope readers will take away from your book?
A few years ago, God gave me a message at 4:00 in the morning. He said, “It’s not about you. It’s about providing value.” So, that’s what I want my readers to understand. I want them to learn who they can serve and how to build the necessary skills to provide real value. I hope that each reader gains deep discernment and that they step into their God-given visions with clarity. And I hope that the amazing thing isn’t that I’ve written a book. Rather, that each one of my readers devours the book from beginning to end and does something amazing in their homes and towns and churches. That the ripple effect of their efforts would spread further than they could ever imagine. Lastly, I pray that the Holy Spirit would meet each person in a fresh way, offering real insight and lasting intimacy.
You can find the introduction to Glasses Off here!
https://veiledfree.com/
And you can order the book here!
https://www.amazon.com/Glasses-Off-Seeing-When-Vision/dp/B0CD1TB5CK
