BLIND SPOTS

John 9:39 “Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. "Watson, look up and tell me what you see." Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars." "What does that tell you?" Watson pondered for a minute.

"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Why, what does it tell you?" Holmes said, "Watson you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."

Sometimes we are blind to what is going on right in our midst, and in a spiritual sense, we can be blind to what God is doing so well for us. You know what a blind spot is. If you’re driving in a car and are relying on your rear view mirrors to check the lanes, there are some spots that you still won’t be able to see. The back right corner. The back left corner. Those are blind spots. You can turn your head and take a gaze at those spots so that you will know if anything is there. But for the moment that you check your blind spots, you are unaware of what is happening in front of the car. Blind spots are created by virtue of the fact that we don’t have eyes in the back of our heads, and that it is physically impossible to see everything at once.

The Pharisees of John chapter 9 were said by Jesus to be blind. The irony is that Jesus had just healed a blind man. And in the aftermath of the story, when the Pharisees tried to find a legal technicality to undo the miracle that Jesus had performed, they reveal themselves to have a blind spot where Jesus is concerned. Jesus said that he came so that those who do not see may see, and that those who think they see will realize that they are blind. And revealing their arrogance and pride, the Pharisees responded to Jesus by saying, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" The man had just cured blind eyes, and the Pharisees were trying to say that he wasn’t of God.

When we have spiritual blind spots, like these Pharisees in the story, we can’t see what God is doing. God had just performed a miracle through his only son, and still these religious leaders couldn’t see it. When you’ve got a spiritual blind spot, God can be doing something fantastic right in your midst and you still won’t see it. You can see how you want things. You can see how you think things should be. You can see what you want to see. But when you’ve got spiritual blind spots, you might just miss out on what God is doing right next to you, right in your midst.

Our prayer today ought to be that God will open our eyes. Let’s pray that he reveal himself to us in a greater way so that we can see past our circumstances and see the God of love and hope. Don’t allow your vision to become stuck on things that are not a part of God’s plan for your life. He truly desires to show himself to each of us. See with his vision today and be encouraged to press on.