Now I See
Do you remember the line to that great hymn, “..was blind but now I see”? When John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, he powerfully stated that it is God’s amazing grace that frees us from the sin that once blinded us. Did you know the same amazing grace that makes those of us, who were blinded by sin, see is the same amazing grace that will sometimes blind us to what we once saw? Let me explain.
After spending my first couple years as a teenager in compromise and rebellion, I had an encounter with God that changed everything and got me back on the right track. I went to a conference where I experienced the Lord’s power in a way that I hadn’t since I was a little boy. Nothing has been the same since that weekend. When I encountered God in such a tangible way, there was no going back.
Friend, please understand, following this encounter I did not enter into some kind of utopia where all problems ceased and the world peacefully and blissfully kept spinning. I still had issues that I had to face. I still had friends who were battling some serious problems. I was still human and still fighting some of the same things everyone else has to fight. Granted, I did have about a two week grace period where my young zeal and passion blinded me to the things around me, but eventually that withered. Grace, for a short season, blinded. After all, didn’t the same thing happen to the Apostle Paul after his encounter?
Remember, after God knocked Paul off his high horse (literally) he was blind for three days. All that once surrounded him, he’d now temporarily gone blind to. Then the Lord sent a man named Ananias to pray for him and to restore his sight. The scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he could once again see. (See Acts 9)
Temporary Blindness
In His grace and mercy, God often temporarily blinds people following an encounter with Him. He allows their zeal to burn so fervently that it sort of blinds them to the very invitation of compromise. The same people can go back to the same situations that used to ensnare them and they’re temporarily oblivious to all the problems that exist. It’s a grace period where God is allowing what He began in them to fully settle before it is tested. This period is not meant to be permanent though.
God’s plan for your life is not that He would have to permanently blind you from the world that once surrounded you to keep you on the right track. The ultimate goal of the encounter is that you would be able to go back to the places that would trip you up, with the scales gone from your eyes, fully aware of all that is wrong and rather than that place or those people changing you, you would change them. The goal is not that God has to blind you of temptation to keep you free from it. The goal is that even when temptation surrounds you on every corner, your heart would be settled and your affection would remain set on the Lord.
Don’t Panic!
Friend, if you’ve recently encountered God in a fresh way and you feel the “grace” period fading, where you’ve been temporarily blind, don’t panic. This doesn’t mean you are “backsliding.” In Christ, you have been called and equipped to overcome everything you face. Let the scales fall from your eyes! God is sending you out to change your world!
Caleb and Ali live in East Tennessee where they serve at The Lift Church. With boldness and conviction, their deepest desire is to see the church revived and the world awakened. Learn more about The Lift by visiting theliftchurch.tv.
