Blind Spots

This is a long one, so bear with me. J

I had minor eye surgery this past week. I have to say, it has left me more frustrated than not. I understand that is part of the process of healing. I have to go through the goop in my eyes, not seeing clearly, no makeup, and all the different medications in order to receive the end result. During this process, I have had a lot of time to ponder many things since that’s about all I can do effectively.

I have been stuck on 2 particular similarities:

1)     What is spiritual blindness? and

2)     Can we ever bypass the “healing phase” of our ministries in order to get to the real ministry?

Let me explain how these 2 questions are similar in our family’s life at the moment. We are in what we hope to be our final year of seminary training in order to be better prepared to complete the mission God has laid before us. Now, please understand, we do not think you HAVE to be seminary trained to complete God’s mission, but for us, that was what God has required of us. During our time here, I have to admit, there have often been many occurrences where we have wondered “what kind of training is this?!?” Book knowledge is wonderful and is of the utmost importance when you are called to be a Disciple of the Word, but where is the practical information? Where is the life application? Even working in and for churches and ministry organizations, we have often felt like we have “lost” our ministry experiences in order to gain a class credit. Not good. It turns out, we are not alone, and many other couples such as us, and in the age group and life stage as us, have been there, done that. Through this journey, God has divinely led us to great friends. Friends who would encourage us, stand in the gap with us, and who have been at varying life stages and could give us Godly counsel to help us. It is through these friendships that we have been ministered to, but we have also been able to minister. Some of our closest friends happen to be pastors and their families. Some have moved away, others still remain here in school, yet others are just here. Watching their lives, though, we have found ourselves wondering lately, “Is this REALLY what YOU intended ministry to be Lord, and if so, I’m not sure you called the right person” (or at least, I have said that). You see, we have seen first-hand the sufferings of our friends at the hands of senior pastors, at the hands of overzealous church leaders, and at the hands of domineering church congregations. We have seen their lives DRAMATICALLY change when they are told to “move on” or to “leave” or that they are “not wanted/needed” anymore. We have seen their grown children cry like little children for their parents, for their respective ministries, for the loss that the Kingdom has just encountered. And that’s where the 2 questions above have continually nagged me.

Do we, as those called to be Disciples of Christ, Fishers of Men, (and that means ALL of us), do we have to endure such strife, even at the hands of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

I was struggling with this seeing our friends endure such harsh lies, defamation of character, and loss of their livelihood. I asked my very wise husband the question, and he said, “The answer is simply, Yes.” I said, well how do you know? (I’m not that stupid and naive; I know how he knows and how I know, but I needed his reassurance). I know we live in a fallen world. In a world where Satan has declared war  through his army of demons. And he leaves NO ONE out. I know that through our own struggles in our Christian walk. But we also know that through God sending us Godly messages in His timing at just the right time, as He did that week during the ENTIRE week’s worth of chapel services. (God’s graciousness again!)

So my take aways have been this: I truly believe many of us have become spiritually blind, including myself. We have allowed our own will to overshadow God’s Will. We have believed Satan’s lies of “I deserve this; I don’t deserve to be treated like that; if you are enduring hardship after hardship then you must be doing something wrong.” We no longer adhere to Ephesians 6 and “obey our earthly masters with respect and fear and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” However, the good news is that if we so choose, we can find sight. In Luke 4, Jesus said,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Your hearing. The WORLD’s hearing. Isn’t that what we are supposed to be about? To take the gospel to the ends of the earth? How can we do that if we are constantly opposing one another? If we are downtrodden and beaten down? That’s the beauty of God’s message. He brings Hope to the hopeless, but that same Hope is also for those of us who are constantly attacked by those willing to be used by Satan. God tells us what to do during these times of turmoil. To take His Good News to the ends of the earth, to tell others that He has come to set them free. Don’t allow Satan to win this war. Put on your battle gear and get ready for the fight of your life, because dear friends, I believe whole heartedly, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet!!!

Ephesians 6:10-20: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.