Sometimes It Is Good To Have Blinders On

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Isaiah 46:10

I have seen it over the years but it finally registered with me the other day while watching an old western show on TV. Often those using horses would have blinders covering the sides of their horses eyes. Looking it up I found out that horses have almost 360 degree vision and can be easily distracted by things around them. You might see horses with blinders on today in Amish communities and areas where they still use a horse and buggy to get around in. Imagine a horse going ballistic every time a car passed by the animal while hauling an Amish family to church and such. It would be a dangerous situation.

We live in the most distracting times imaginable. Sounds from every direction, smartphones to distract us, that sixty cycle hum present in every home running appliances. Then there are news alerts, 24 hour news about tragedies heard from all over the world–something our ancestors couldn’t have imagined. 

We have necessary distractions, worries over ill family members, perhaps troubles at work or with social interactions with others. Then there are fun distractions like video games, get togethers, entertainment of all sorts. It’s a wonder we ever get five minutes alone with God.

Even when praying and trying to get closer to God our mind wanders, the general attention deficit disorder that we all suffer from, not just those diagnosed with it, by living in our modern era we are deluged with distractions. Multitasking is considered a good thing even though you often end up getting lots of things done badly instead of a few things done correctly.

It is a challenge for the Christian today to build up a relationship with God. Though we have churches on nearly every corner, more Bibles available than ever before in history, along with more religious books, podcasts, shows, and technology to bring us closer to God–the busyness of today’s world robs us of that necessary time for God in our lives.

The answer is to stubbornly, or creatively, make time for God. If there is something you are determined to do badly enough–you will find time to do it. It is the same in making time for God.

This world and everything in it is constantly buzzing around our heads keeping us distracted from the most important things in life. Like those horses needing to focus on the path ahead instead of being distracted, perhaps we need some blinders that will narrow our focus to the primary purposes of life including a growing relationship with God.

Prayer: Dear Lord, forgive us for getting so busy and diverted toward other things, and losing focus on You. Help us avoid distractions so we can grow in Your love and grace as we spend time in Your presence, always keeping you in our sights. Amen.

Lamb Or Wolf?

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” John 1:36

There is a Cherokee parable about two wolves living inside each of us. One wolf represents our better selves, our better nature, while the other wolf represents the worst in us. The story goes that the wolf you feed the most is the one that will grow stronger in you, so feed the good wolf and not the bad one.

Yet for the Christian we are to have no wolf inside of us. We are instead to rely upon the Lamb of God who dwells in every believer. We don’t need to “feed Him”, we simply need to allow Him to live through us and be Jesus in our lives.

Sadly, too often I allow a wolf to enter into the sheepfold of my life. Instead of following the lead of the lamb, I listen to the growling of the wolf and growl right along with him. It is a foolish thing to allow a wolf to reside in the sheep pen. Yet how many times do we react to adversity with the actions of the wolf rather than the lamb?

Selfishness, Anger, doubt, impatience, bitterness, strife, when we allow the wolf to run our lives it ruins our reputation as Christians and it chokes out any good fruit we might produce as God’s children. When someone cuts us off in traffic, or jumps in line ahead of us, or insults us, or treats us or one of our family members badly, that wolf too often rears his ugly head and bares his fangs.

When afflictions strike us we find ourselves howling with the wolf rather than holding on to our Lord with faith. Human nature follows the way of the wolf. It takes the power of The Holy Spirit to lead us in the way of the Lamb.

Allowing Jesus to be Jesus within us is much harder than it sounds. When singing in church, or quietly reading a favorite Bible verse, or sitting outdoors on a lovely picture perfect day–it is so easy to allow the Lamb to shine through us. But let adversity strike, enemies rise up against us or our loved ones, and it is hard to hear the voice of our Lord from the angry clamor around and within us. Reacting in a godly way is only possible by holding fast to the Lamb living within us through His Holy Spirit.

Life ain’t easy. We often have more stormy days than beautiful sunny ones. Life can throw obstacles at us we could never have imagined. And it feels almost natural to “let the wolf in”. But if our life is instead filled with Jesus there will be no room for wolves. We need to walk and talk with Jesus every day and not just look Him up when the storm arrives. If you are anchored to Jesus the storm will not drive you away when the flood comes. And the flood will come. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will arrive when least expected. At that time if your life is filled with The Lamb of God, you can not only face the trial, but come out the other side fully vindicated by trusting in Jesus through it all.

Prayer: Dear Lord, The wolf seems to be constantly howling. Troubles come at us from every side. Give us the power and strength to hold fast to You, The Lamb of God, who lives within every believer. Amen.