Recognizing Spiritual Blind Spots

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I was coming home the other day and stopped to make a left turn onto a rural state highway near our home. Even though I came to a complete stop, checking both ways carefully before I turned against the flow of traffic, I pulled right out in front of a dark gray car.

The driver of that car swerved mightily to miss me. And as soon as she safely passed me, she blew her horn loud and long.

I did not blame her for that response. I was just as upset with myself as she was, possibly even more. For truthfully, it was only by the grace of God that I did not cause a major collision and harm her or myself.

The incident only lasted a moment, but it shook me up for quite some time. Later, I told my husband about it, explaining that I never saw the oncoming car at all.

He listened gracefully, without fussing at me or looking shocked. Then he shared with me that since he had been driving my car more this summer than usual, he had noticed a definite blind spot in my car.

He told me exactly where it was and reminded me that the vinyl interior of my car – especially where the blind spot is located – is also colored a dark gray like the oncoming car. He surmised that those similar colors, combined with the car’s blind spot, instigated what could have been a major accident.

My sweet husband assured me that I would not soon forget that potential wreck. So, he told me to be mindful of my blind spot when I turned or changed lanes, and then, he was done with the incident.

I was not.

I contemplated the experience for several days, continually thanking God for protecting the other driver and me. At the same time, I kept pondering the concept of a blind spot so large that I somehow managed not to see an entire car.

It was so disturbing that I was still thinking about the scary encounter on my way to church this past Sunday, specifically when I passed the exact scene of my blind spot incident. Perhaps God was preparing my heart to better receive my pastor’s sermon that morning.

Based on 1 Corinthians 13:12 and Hebrews 11:3, his timely message on walking by faith and not by sight was titled “Looking Through the Lens of Life with the Wrong Frame of Mind.”

It was a sobering reminder that, though I depend on my feelings way too much, faith always trumps feelings. But regardless of the circumstances, we must frame everything we experience through the lens of His Word.

Yes, our thoughts, experiences, and emotions are very real. But if we place our trust in those very real and legitimate things alone, they can become the lens through which we view all of life – a lens that will often blind us to the truth of God’s unfailing Word.

Talk about an “amen” moment!

I was in awe of God’s perfect timing and unfailing ability to cut right to the heart of every sinful matter in my life, including my blind spot of self-reliance.

Consequently, my failure to surrender everything to Jesus might just be the biggest blind spot in my life. It might even be more deadly and dangerous than my car’s blind spot.

So, bright and early Monday morning, I began studying blind spots, including visual and spiritual ones. What I learned was literally eye-opening.

According to Webster’s dictionary, a blind spot is basically an obstructed viewpoint, where what should be seen is not visible.

Since everyone has a visual blind spot, the American Academy of Ophthalmology has a fun (and somewhat startling) activity that helps students determine their personal blind spot. It only takes a piece of white paper, a black marker, and a ruler to conduct this simple test.

But finding our spiritual blind spots is not quite as simple. In fact, determining spiritual areas of blindness can be an ongoing task, requiring constant awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses.

In his iconic book, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers offers these words of wisdom on the topic: “Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones.”

As a perfect example, the apostle Peter, like many believers, struggled to surrender his everything to Jesus – including his mouth. His ability to talk openly and courageously was an obvious but “unguarded strength” that became “a double weakness.”

The battle between Peter’s strengths and weaknesses came to a climax right after the Last Supper, as Jesus warned His disciples of what was to come, predicting they would soon abandon him.

Peter instantly contradicted Jesus, declaring he would never leave him. In response, Jesus warned Peter that he would indeed abandon him and even deny him three times before daylight.

From our viewpoint, knowing about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, it seems insane for Peter to blindly refuse to heed the Savior’s warning words.

Though Peter’s blind spot might be glaringly plain to us, it took a night of harsh encounters – three of them, to be exact – to make Peter aware of his obstructed point of view. He had to literally wallow in the shame and pain of those denials to see the truth of who he was without Christ.

We are no different. We must come to the horrifyingly powerless end of ourselves to find the point of total surrender to Christ. But at our lowest point, after the stark realization of our sin and shame, Jesus patiently calls to us, just as He did to Peter.

Amazingly, right there, at the dawning of a new day, Jesus is faithfully waiting, fully aware of the wreck we made of things due to our blind dependence on self. There He stands – right near the hopeless spot in our lives where we abandoned and denied Him.

Yes, right there, on the very shore of our glaring failure, He waits quietly and patiently, offering to feed us, forgive us, and draw us back to His sword-pierced side.

And that is the only spot that matters.

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