Last month, I ended up changing my daily walking routes for the first time in eight years. The change is not part of my plan, but rather a direction God led me in due to certain circumstances in the community where I live. Although I still walk near where I live, I have had many new experiences, and God has even given me new perspectives on life on these new roads.
If you know me, you know that I am a helpless nature freak and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. Unfortunately, since having code for the first time last year, my sense of smell and taste have not been what they normally are.
Needless to say, I was surprised to smell all of the different smells that I have encountered on my new daily walking route. I have encountered everything from backyard grilling to seasonal smells like Jazmine and honeysuckle, which are two of my favorite scents.
These encounters have stimulated my brain and senses for the first time in what seems like years. Aside from the wonderful scents of life, God has also revealed other things to me:
Reveal is defined as, “To make something (secret or hidden) publicly or generally known: display.”
Due to my TBI, I have to be hypersensitive to my surroundings and pay attention to everything going on where I am walking or traveling. I’m not saying I am anxious, but more aware of my surroundings.
I tend to pay more attention to my other senses, more than my eyes: hearing, smelling, and spiritual awareness. Each of these senses is heightened due to my lack of peripheral vision. Again, God has made each of us different with different skill sets and abilities (Exodus 31:1-6, Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-6).
One of the surprising things God has revealed to me over the weeks is that sometimes He takes time to reveal things that were there all along, but we are too busy or distracted to see. After living in the same area for 20 years, I never noticed the cell and radio towers not far from where I live until walking my new route at night. But that is how God works, revealing and doing whenever He chooses to awaken us (Amos 3:7, Matthew 11:25; 13:11).
We can only have things revealed to us that we don’t know about; it is easy to see how pride can blind us to things. The Bible is clear God’s ways are higher than man’s; only He can reveal things and true the world does not understand (Deuteronomy 29:29, Job 11:7, Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 11:33-34). Our understanding is limited; that is why we must depend on God to lead us and show us the way to His perfect will (Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 58:11, James 1:5). I cannot count how many times I watched religious people look at life through their sinful eyes, instead of depending on God’s divine wisdom and His Spirit.
Even Jesus became frustrated with the religious leaders of His day, whom our Lord declared were just blind guides (Matthew 15:14; 23:16).
The natural things and order of this world are blind to the spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:4). I can attest that blind people do not know or understand what they do not see. I am legally blind according to the government and my eye doctors due to my limited peripheral vision.
This doesn’t mean I cannot see it all; just that I cannot see everything within my peripheral vision. Those blind spots can cause me harm if I’m not careful or don’t use some type of aid. Spiritually, God’s people have His Word and Spirit to help us with our blind spots.
Unfortunately, not everyone uses them correctly or just ignores them altogether because they think they know better. I know because I used to have that type of faith life. I have learned over the years that religion can blind us if we are not careful or attentive to God’s Spirit.
When we receive God’s Spirit, we cannot keep looking through our fleshly eyes, but must look at things from the perspective of God and His Word (John 3:6, Romans 8:5-6, Ephesians 1:18).
God knows and sees all while we are finite beings. Too many believers try to make God in their image to do their own will. They want a God that they can understand or manipulate.
We are living in the times that Scripture warned us about, and the prophecy God has revealed is coming true (Matthew 24:10-12, 1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Jude 1:17-19). I am praying God will send a major revelation to many in the American church who have turned to earthly greatness and temporary power, and lead it to repent of their idolatry. But I know God will open your eyes in His divine time.
The Bible is clear that God reveals and does things in His time, not ours (Habakkuk 2:3, 2 Peter 3: 8-9.)It is God who calls out to the lost and draws them to Himself; that is not our job, as many misled believers believe and try to do so (Isaiah 65:1, Daniel 2:22, John 6:44).
The problem is that too many people will only listen to the voices they like or make them happy, but they fail to realize that has been Satan’s playbook since the beginning. I am worried about how many believers who don’t understand how deception works, and they themselves need to turn to the light of God.
When we live for temporary happiness or earthly greatness, we aren’t walking in the light of God at all. The Bible is clear God will bring everything to the light, no matter how much people try to hide things (Ecclesiastes 12:14, Mark 4:22).
We serve a God of the light, and He exposes darkness, especially among those who claim to be His people, but refuse to obey Him (Psalm 139:11-12, John 3:19-21, 1 John 1:5-7). God’s people are called to be the light of this world to expose darkness, not practice it (Matthew 5:14-16). Only light can overcome the darkness. It is in the light that truth is being revealed (John 8:12, Ephesians 5:13)!
