Spiritual Hoodie
…the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. Psalm 146:8
For the record, I have nothing against hoodies. My favorite sweatshirt is a hoodie.
During a very long drive, following my husband to deliver the car he was driving to our daughter in Georgia, a young man, driving with his hoodie up, pulled from in front of us to the passing lane and slowed down. My husband, remaining at the same speed, passed him on the right and I followed. Just as I got next to him he realized he was slowing traffic in the passing lane and started to pull back into my lane (more like my car!).
I leaned on my horn and I could see that he was trying to see me but when he looked right all he could see was the inside of his hoodie. I am grateful that he knew the horn was at him and he pulled back into his lane. As the reasonable older woman I tried not to look at him for fear I would make some face that would convey my dismay and kept moving past him as he got out of the way again. I wanted to pull out my “Mama” voice and subtly suggest that he loose the hood!
Almost immediately I realized I shouldn’t be too quick to shake my head at him. I thought about what keeps me from seeing what I should do or how I should be travelling before the Lord. Though I heard no audible voice I felt prompted to think about what blocks my view of what God has for me – what is my “spiritual hoodie”?
Over recent weeks I am sure my emotions have blocked my view of what God is doing in my life. I thank God for frequent reminders, as we have been studying His Kingdom, of His sovereignty over every aspect of His Kingdom. At one point someone else reminded me to take every thought captive when my own fears take over and to keep what is true in front of me.
So many things threaten our faith in this culture that is already blind to spiritual truth. It is not hard to be wooed into a complacent state of mind, completely forgetting the work of Christ on our behalf. “I can’t do anything to change it anyway,” seems to be the attitude I hear from some Christians. We want what feels good or to complain unceasingly about what feels bad. My own selfish desire for comfortable living or “self-fulfillment” can get in the way of living to please God who reminds us all in His word that we are to consider others more important than ourselves.
Spiritual blindness slows down our spiritual growth. It keeps us from seeing God’s sovereignty and building His Kingdom that He has called us to grow. The real blessings of doing things His Way are by-passed for the meager “blessings” the world offers. We know there is no comparison but we continue to chase them.
The question continues to nag at me. Is there something that is blocking my view of all God has for me or for us? Am I running into things unnecessarily because I refuse to remove the hoodie that is making my blind spot bigger than that young man’s in the passing lane?
How about you, when you look around, are you looking into a “spiritual hoodie”?