So Blinded I Had to Turn a Deaf Ear

Proverbs 3:5-8 (New King James Version)

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
      And lean not on your own understanding;
       ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
      And He shall direct  your paths.
       ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
      Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
       ⁸ It will be health to your flesh,
      And strength to your bones.

Have you ever found yourself to be struggling with symptoms of illness, yet still functioning and then your defenses and immune system can take no more so you end up going to the doctor?  Then you begin to recover and you suddenly realize once you begin to feel incredibly better that you had been sicker than you thought for a much longer time than you thought, because you had accepted the weakened state of being as the norm?  Once you are well, you feel stupid because you thought you WERE being strong by making yourself keep going and shrugging off the symptoms, only to realize in the end you were really BLIND to the truth and if you should have acknowledged you needed help along the way to maintain real endurance and health.  This is where I have been.  I have such an issue determining and maintaining boundaries and God is trying to help me see this.  Yet, I keep doing what I do not want to do.  Then I end up hurting others and myself.  I think the scripture above in Proverbs kind of says it all.  A new friend of mine just said last week that Proverbs was his favorite book and he is indeed a wise and balanced man.

Alot of this has to do with the words that we tell ourselves about a situation.  Alot of it is the lies that replay in our heads from our past and from the devil, he wants us to remain blind and sickly.  It is about whether we choose to listen to the life giving Words of life that come from the Lord or if we give place to the words of deception that bring death to our spirits and physical bodies. 

So this morning in prayer, I was reminded of a story that I think shows what I mean.  I hope it brings you life today.

A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell
into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how very deep the pit was, they told the
two frogs that they were as good as dead. "Oh my, there is just no way!" some of the frogs shouted.  "Never gonna happen!" other frogs weeped aloud. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd
of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and
finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs were saying and expressing, "Did you not hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was DEAF. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

 We need to turn a deaf ear to anything other than what God says about us and just keep on jumpin!!

Be blessed today, my friends ~ Pastor V