Hey Empress thank you for tuning in to Unapologetically Caged. It’s your girl Phoenix, back to give you another dose of raw and inspirational truth.
My name is Ruth “Phoenix Rising” Moise. I am 27 years old, a mother of two, and yes I am writing this from behind bars. But I need you to understand something before we go any further: these walls cannot cage what God placed inside of me. And they cannot cage what He wants to place inside of you either. That’s why I started this series. Every hard lesson I have learned, every divine download I have received, every moment of clarity that broke through the darkness I am sharing it here so that you do not have to learn the hard way like I did.
Today’s Rising Gem is one I have been sitting with for a while, and I believe somebody out there needs to hear it right now. We are going to talk about God as our Divine Optometrist and how He corrects our spiritual vision, adjusts our lens, and leads us into the fullness of our purpose. Whether you are struggling to find direction, questioning your faith, searching for healing, or just trying to figure out who you are and where you are going this one is for you.
What Is Spiritual Vision – and Why Does It Go Blurry?
When most people talk about spiritual growth, they focus on reading scripture, going to church, or praying more. And those things matter. But I want to take it a step deeper and talk about something that does not get discussed enough: your spiritual vision. The internal lens through which you see yourself, your circumstances, your relationships, and your future.
Spiritual vision is your ability to see beyond what is in front of you to perceive your God-given purpose, to recognize divine guidance when it shows up, and to understand what season of life you are in. And just like your physical eyesight, it can blur. It can get distorted. It can deteriorate when you are not caring for it. And when your spiritual vision is blurry, every decision you make is being filtered through a smudged, cracked lens. You misjudge people. You misread situations. You cannot see the path clearly, so you stumble. You cannot see yourself clearly, so you settle.
I spent years making decisions from a place of blurred spiritual vision. I could not see how valuable I was. I could not see the consequences of my choices clearly. I could not see the vision God had for my life because I had never taken the time or had the courage to sit down with the One who could correct my sight.
God as the Divine Optometrist: How He Reveals Your Purpose
The Eye Exam – “Can You See the Picture Clearly?”
Here is the analogy that changed everything for me. Picture walking into an optometrist’s office. The doctor dims the lights, shows you a red balloon or a row of letters on the wall and asks: “Can you see this clearly?” You squint. You strain. Maybe you say “Sort of,” maybe you say “No, it’s blurry.” And what does he do? He does not throw his hands up. He does not shame you for not seeing perfectly. He simply adjusts the lens. He tries again. “What about now?” And he will keep adjusting, keep working with your eyes patiently, skillfully until you finally say: “Yes. I can see it. Perfectly.”
Finding your God-given purpose works the same way. God shows you a picture of who He created you to be your calling, your potential, the version of your life that exists in His original design and sometimes you look at it and say, “I don’t understand it.” Sometimes you say, “That cannot be for me.” And God, patient as the most skilled physician, will simply adjust the lens. He will bring new experiences into your life. He will place the right people in your path. He will strip away what is distracting you. And He will ask again: Can you see it now?
🔑 Key Insight
God does not judge you on how blind you are to your purpose. He meets you exactly where you are and works with you until the vision becomes clear. That patience? That is grace in action.
He Does Not Judge Your Blindness – He Corrects It
One of the most powerful things about a good optometrist is that there is no shame in the chair. It does not matter if you have 20/20 vision or if you are legally blind. The doctor is not there to grade your eyesight he is there to help you see. That is the heart of God. He does not shame you for where your vision is right now. He does not log your mistakes and hold them against you as evidence that you are too far gone to receive direction. He simply says: I know what you need. Let me help you see.
I had to learn this truth from a place where I sat with a lot of shame. I have made serious mistakes that affected my children, my family, my future. And for a long time, I believed that because of those mistakes, the clear vision the divine purpose was no longer available to me. That I had forfeited my prescription. But God proved me wrong. Because He is not withholding clarity as punishment. He is offering it as a gift. All we have to do is show up to the appointment.
Prayer: How to Book Your Appointment With God
So here is the practical question: how do you access spiritual vision correction? How do you sit down with your Divine Optometrist when the path is dark, when you are lost, when the noise of life is drowning out any sense of direction? The answer is simple, and it is one of the most powerful tools available to every human being on earth, regardless of their circumstances:
Prayer is your appointment. It is your scheduling system. It is how you get on God’s calendar. And the most remarkable thing about this particular office is that He is always open. No limited hours. No busy signals. No “the next available slot is three weeks from now.” The moment you speak His name the moment you open your heart and say, “God, I cannot see clearly. I need Your help” you are in the waiting room. And He will see you.
How God Reveals Vision: Dreams, Signs, and Quiet Knowing
Now, I want to be real with you about something: the revelation does not always come immediately. God is not a vending machine. You do not always insert a prayer and receive instant clarity. Sometimes He speaks through a dream in the middle of the night. Sometimes the answer comes in broad daylight through a conversation, a scripture, a sudden knowing that settles deep in your chest. Sometimes it unfolds slowly, like a flower opening over weeks or months.
But the key the thing that changes everything is that you showed up. You made the appointment. You trusted that the Doctor would see you. And He always does. There is absolutely no shame in not knowing where you are going. Seeking direction is not a sign of weakness it is the wisest thing you can do.
He is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. When you are wandering in the darkness of life, call upon the Light of the universe and ask Him to guide you home. Phoenix Rising
Annual Spiritual Check-Ins:
Here is something about the optometrist that most people overlook: they do not see you once and send you on your way forever. Every year sometimes every six months they call you back in for an annual exam. Because here is the truth about vision: it changes. What worked for your eyes two years ago might not be what they need today. The prescription shifts. Life shifts. And a good doctor stays on top of that.
Research consistently shows that regular spiritual practice consistent prayer, community, reflection has a profound effect on mental health, emotional resilience, and long-term wellbeing. This is true for everyone, and it is especially true for those navigating trauma, grief, incarceration, poverty, or any form of hardship. Faith is not just spiritual it is deeply psychological. It gives your brain a framework for hope. It grounds your identity in something that cannot be taken away.
God’s Vision for You Evolves as You Grow
Just because God gave you a vision six months ago, or three years ago, does not mean the assignment is expired. But it does mean He may be calling you back in for an adjustment. Maybe you have grown. Maybe your capacity has expanded. Maybe you drifted off course life got loud, old habits crept back in, and your lens got dirty again. Whatever the reason, God does not abandon the vision He placed in you. He refines it.
This is something I learned the hard way. I had a sense of calling when I was younger a pull toward something greater. But I did not steward that vision. I did not tend to it. I walked away from the Divine Optometrist and tried to navigate life on whatever blurry, outdated prescription I had left from the last time I showed up. And sis it did not go well. When you try to live on an expired prescription, you bump into things. You misjudge distances. You fall.
💡 Practical Application
Make spiritual check-ins a regular rhythm not just when crisis hits. Daily prayer, journaling, scripture, or quiet reflection are all forms of sitting in the exam chair. Your vision stays clearest when you show up consistently, not just in emergencies.
The Danger of Spiritual Pride:
I need to speak to something real right now, because I have been here and I know many of you have too. There is a particular kind of spiritual pride that whispers: “You don’t need help. You’ve got this. You can figure it out.” And it sounds like confidence. It feels like strength. But I need to tell you what it actually is it is blindness in disguise. And it is one of the most dangerous places to be.
When you decide you have it all figured out when you stop showing up for your divine eye exams, when you walk away from the Great Physician and try to prescribe yourself you will stumble. I am living proof of that truth. There were times in my life when I was so certain about the direction I was taking. I did not ask God. I did not seek guidance. I leaned entirely on my own understanding on the blurry, limited, biased vision of a young woman who had not yet learned how much she did not know.
And God, in His infinite grace, will let you. He gave us free will and He honors it. If you say “I’ve got this,” He steps back and lets you try. Not because He does not care but because sometimes the only way back to the exam chair is after you have tried to navigate without glasses and walked face-first into a wall. Sometimes the fall is the appointment.
Do not wait until your life is a blurry mess to ask God to correct your vision. Go to Him in the ordinary Tuesday when nothing is on fire. Maintaining spiritual vision is so much easier than trying to recover it. Phoenix Rising
Spiritual Growth Through Hardship:
I want to speak directly to any woman any person reading this from a hard place. Maybe you are incarcerated. Maybe you are in a season of loss, addiction recovery, grief, or deep uncertainty. Maybe the walls around you are not made of concrete, but they feel just as confining. Hear me clearly:
Your location does not disqualify your calling. Your past does not revoke your prescription. The vision God has for your life is not contingent on you being in the right circumstances, having the right resources, or having made all the right choices. It is contingent on one thing: your willingness to show up to the appointment.
Research and lived experience both confirm that faith-based healing and spiritual growth are among the most powerful forces for transformation particularly for people navigating incarceration and reentry. When people discover authentic purpose and connect to something greater than their circumstances, healing happens. Identity shifts. Hope returns. This is not wishful thinking it is one of the most well-documented phenomena in the field of human rehabilitation. Faith gives you back your why.
I write these words from inside a cell. And my vision has never been clearer. I can see what I am called to do. I can see the woman I am becoming. I can see the impact these words are going to have on someone who needed to hear exactly this, exactly today. If God can bring clarity to me He can absolutely bring clarity to you. You just have to make the appointment.
A Message to Every Empress Finding Her Way
So here is your takeaway from today’s Rising Gem. Schedule your regular vision checks with God. Not just when things get hard. Not just when you are desperate or broken or out of options. But regularly, consistently, as a sacred rhythm of your everyday life.
Get in the habit of sitting down with your Divine Optometrist and asking: Am I seeing clearly? Is this the vision You have for me? Do I need an adjustment? And then and this is the part most people skip actually listen. Be still enough to receive the answer. Quiet yourself long enough to hear.
He does not shame you for how blind you have been. He does not keep score of how many times you have needed a correction. He is simply there patient, skilled, and full of grace ready to work with your vision until the picture He has for your life comes into perfect focus.
📌 Your Action Step
Today right now take five minutes to sit in stillness and speak honestly to God about where you feel lost, blurry, or without direction. That is your appointment. Show up for it. He will meet you there.
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