Blind As A Bat

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25, Psalm 131:1-3, & Proverbs 17:4-5

Acts 9:3-9

³ As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. ⁶ “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

Are you blind? That is a question we need to really ask ourselves. The initial answer would seem to be a loud NO for most of us. But I don’t know if that is the right answer. We may be very blind to a lot of things.

Saul didn’t realize that he was I opposition with God. He thought that he was doing God a favor by capturing the Christians. He thought that it was the right thing to do. He wasn’t openly rebellion against God. He was honoring the traditions that had been passed down to him. He was doing what religion had taught him to do. The only problem was that he found out he was actually working against what God really wanted, which was people to receive Jesus.

There are times when we fight against things that God has planned to use for His glory. There are many reasons that we would resist things.

1.      We don’t agree with the method.

2.      We don’t like the style.

3.      It is not what we are used to.

4.      It has never been done like that before.

5.      We don’t like the crowd that it attracts.

6.      We are afraid of other things happening.

7.      It wasn’t our idea.

I have seen all of these in action. To be quite honest, I have had each of these thoughts are one point in my life. I thank God that when I have gotten that way that the Holy Spirit has dealt with me. I don’t want to be blind to what God is doing. I want to be is step with Him so I can be a part of what He is doing instead of one of the pessimistic naysayers.

I have learned to examine the fruit before I reject things. I have been wrong in the past about things & my goal is to make less mistakes in the future. I don’t want to be critical about everything. I want to be open to things. I want God to stretch so I don’t get stuck in a rut. I don’t want to miss the next great move of God. I want to be involved in it. I want to play my part.

I want to challenge every person to put aside difference in this area tune your ear to the Holy Spirit. What is He speaking? Will you be willing to be quiet long enough to actually hear from Him? Would you stop pleading your case long enough to hear Him present His?  This is what really happened to Paul during this time of blindness. He was forced to re-evaluate his current position on many things.

GOD, HELP US TO KNOW YOUR WILL. TEACH US TO BE HUMBLE ENOUGH TO LAY OUR WILL DOWN LONG ENOUGH TO LEARN WHAT YOUR WILL REALLY IS. REMOVE THE SCALES FROM OUR EYES WE ASK IN JESUS NAME.

 

Pastor Richard Schlotter