firmly planted

Going through life with blinders on

A phrase that I heard at times growing up was, “going through life with blinders on.” Not that my parents, teachers, or contemporaries ever applied that to me . . . of course not! Anyway, I heard something on the radio this morning that reminded me of the saying from days-gone-by: apparently we blink approximately 17,000 times a day! That simple, often involuntary, rapid opening and closing of our eyes takes place roughly once every 5 seconds on average. What’s more, we spend about 8 hours/day, 56 hours/week, 240 hours/month and 2,920 hours/year sleeping. (Apparently, we spend one third of our lives doing nothing.)

Between blinking and sleeping, it’s interesting to think about how much of the life we live is spent with our eyes closed (not to mention the times we close them to avoid the horrors of scary movies, Joe Biden impromptu speeches, or Lady Gaga’s latest fashion statement). That means that only a percentage of the other two-thirds of life is spent with our eyes open. Meaningless statistic, you say; trivial trivia, you quip. Maybe.

However, a simple spiritual application comes to play here. The old phrase “going through life with blinders on” implies that someone has their eyes closed in a more metaphorical manner of speaking. Eyes closed to opportunity, to goodness, common sense, beauty, and hope. In a sense, the person having his eyes closed, lives irresponsibly as he ignores things he is supposed to see.

Scripture has something to say about this as well. Jesus said that some people had ears but would not hear and eyes but would not see. In II Kings 6:14-17, the prophet Elisha and his servant are surrounded by the Syrian army. The situation is bleak and Elisha’s servant begins to lose confidence–by the servant’s reaction, it seems the story chronicles the original diary of a wimpy kid. Elisha prays. His prayer is not for God to strike down the Syrians, or for an air assault over the enemy’s exact location, or even that his servant would transform into a hulkish, over-protective rock of a man to protect his blind side.

Instead, Elisha prays for his servant’s eyes to be opened. God answered. The servant then saw “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (v.17) God’s protection had been there the entire time but the servant, in effect, had his eyes closed and couldn’t see. By not opening his eyes and seeing from God’s perspective, he missed out on the strength and encouragement he could have had all along.

Moral of the story: open your eyes spiritually to see what God can do in and through your life. Don’t miss out on what He is doing and wants to do in you–it’s far more awesome than what you can do on your own. Or . . . buy stock in “No-Doze,” work first, second, and third shift in a packing warehouse, and stay awake the bulk of the rest of your life, hoping that you miss out on nothing! By the way, in reading this post, you most likely blinked at least 72 times.

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