Mike and I attended ministry training on Sunday. The beginning activity involved blindfolding one of our classmates and asking him to follow directions as the rest of us spoke a variety of commands to him. He had to choose one voice to follow and try to tune the rest of us out as we rambled on with instructions.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself blindfolded with a room full of people shouting commands to you. One is telling the truth; the others are trying to distract you and lead you in the wrong direction.
It sounds a lot like life, doesn’t it? We have many choices and hear many tempting voices throughout the day. Go here! Buy this! This won’t hurt you, try it! Just once won’t do anything! You could get rich if you ___! That attention feels nice! He’d surely notice you more if you ___!
The voices can be confusing, overwhelming and be so very tempting at times. Our tempter, the author of lies, will do all he can to deceive us and trick us into moving his direction. He wants to pull us away from our Savior, even if it is just ½ step at a time. He feels victorious when he can turn our heads in his direction. His voice then becomes even louder and more persistent.
As we walked through the exercise, I imagined myself many years ago at a troubled point in my life. Watching our classmate receive the bombardment of commands helped me to imagine the activity in heavenly places as I fell into a particular sin. The Holy Spirit was one of the voices, but I couldn’t hear Him clearly. The lies were too loud and the temptation too great. Suddenly, last Sunday night, I could see myself nearly 20 years ago as a deceived captive, overcome by emotion-feeding lies of the enemy.
I can tell you that I do not ever want to find myself in that position again. Had I been the blindfolded volunteer that night, I likely would have broken down into a heap of tears with the imagery confronting me. The moment was powerful.
I want to know my Savior, really, truly know Him so that I can recognize His voice, and obey His commands. John 10:27 says "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (NASB). This fuels my time in the Word. It spurs me on when it’s hard to find quiet time in my day. It drives me to ask daily to be “filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9). Will I be deceived again? It is likely that I will, but I pray to become so familiar His ways that I quickly recognize when I’m pulled aside and rely on His strength to right my path.
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