Blinders

By Kelly McFadden

“Therefore, speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”

Matthew 13:13 KJV

Interpretation: “That is why I use these parables, for they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.”

Matthew 13:13 KJV

As my dog, Peanut, got older she began to lose her sight. I remember watching her walk down the hall of our family’s home feeling so sad because she kept bumping into the walls due to her poor vision. After a few weeks of this, Peanut went to the groomers. She came back with a short new haircut. I watched in awe as Peanut trotted in a straight line down the hall, never running into a wall once. Then it hit me: Peanut wasn’t going blind. Rather, the hair in front of her eyes had gotten so long it was blocking her sight.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the four soils. Jesus used this analogy to give unique insight into the ways of God. In this parable, Jesus showed how differently people hear the Word of God. For some, they hear, but do not understand. Others hear it, accept it, but fall away quickly because there is no depth to their faith. Still others hear the message, but the worries of life and lust of the world leave no room for God. There are some, however, who hear and understand, producing a harvest that extends beyond them.

Which soil are you? Sometimes, I think I fall into all four categories. There are times when I am thirsty and searching and it is easy for God’s Word to burrow deep into my heart. Still, there are other times I am too busy to pay attention to the lessons God is teaching me. I am blinded by an outward distraction or worry. It is at those times I become spiritually blinded, stumbling until I am willing to take care of the root problem: the blinders blocking my eyes.

Spiritual blindness need not be a permanent problem. We have the opportunity to see more clearly by removing the blinders from our hearts. We must humble ourselves and ask God to give us a pliable and understanding heart–which is work that He wants to do in our lives. Then, we must follow through and do what we know we need to do.

Trust God to be faithful to continue the work He has begun in you. As a result, you will have eyes that see and ears to hear the greatness of our Lord. Source:

By Deana Landers www.morningcoffeebeans.com

My mom had dark auburn hair and beautiful green eyes. She had 13 children, but only 11 of us lived. We lived on a farm; she cooked our meals, made our clothes, taught us how to care for ourselves, and loved us.

One day I was sitting alone outside digging holes in the Georgia red clay beside our house. The dirt was hard, but I had a fork, and I liked digging holes and creating little clay houses for my stick people to live in. The wind was blowing, and I felt like the air was changing, but I was content to add bits of water so I could make a little creek beside my clay houses.

Suddenly, a thunderous bolt of lightning hit the ground about 20 feet away from me and I froze. When I looked up the clouds were dark, but there was no rain.

It was the first time I had seen a dry thunderstorm, where thunder-bearing clouds produce rain, but the rain droplets evaporate before reaching the ground.

I stood but couldn’t move. I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I looked around but didn’t know what to do.

Suddenly I heard someone say, “Don’t be afraid. I will take care of you. Trust me.”

I felt my body release, and I ran to the back door. When I got there, my mother was waiting. I ran into her arms as she looked past me at the darkening sky.

She led me into the living room and said, “That’s a scary lighting storm. Are you okay?”

I told her that, at first, I couldn’t move, but then I heard someone tell me not to be afraid and that he would take care of me. After that, I could run to the house, I said.

“Who said that?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I know I heard it.”

She left me and went outside. When she came back in she said, “Honey, there is no one out there.”

“I didn’t hear it with ears, Mama,” I said. “I heard it with my heart.”

She sat down beside me and pulled me in her arms. Her green eyes were filled with tears. She said,

“That was the spirit of God talking to you and assuring you that you were not alone.”

My mom read to me from the Bible as I was growing up, but I heard the scripture as stories. I can’t remember going to church very much. That day we sat together and talked about how God sent his son to die on the cross for us, and that when he went back to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to be with us on earth until Jesus would come again.

Then she told me I could ask Jesus to come into my heart and accept Him as my Savior and that He would be with me always, in good times and scary times.

I was nine when I knelt beside my mom and accepted Christ as my Savior. And she was right. I felt the presence of God four years later when she died. In my heart, I heard Him say, “Don’t be afraid. Trust me. I will never leave you.”

Being the youngest in our family, I never got to ask my mom all the questions I wish I could ask her now, but I’m grateful my mom answered the most important question I needed to know—that He would never leave me. She was right. He never has.