Blind Spots.

Blind Spots.

If you drive a vehicle, you know what a blind spot is.  It is that area in which you cannot see anything.

Here's a driving scenario:

You checked your rear-view mirror and both your side mirrors.  There was nothing behind you nor beside you.  You start to move over into the left lane and HOOONNNNNNKKKKKK!   Oops!!! You jerk your steering wheel back to the right, barely having missed that other vehicle.  What just happened?  Most likely, that vehicle had been there the entire time, but it was in your blind spot.

Does that scenario sound familiar?  Has it ever happened to you?  It has happened to me.  I try to turn my head around and look beyond the blind spot in my car, but that doesn't always work.  Especially now with two herniated discs in my neck and some stiffness.  We need to be careful of blind spots when we are driving.

What about in life?  Do we experience "blind spots" in our lives?  Yes.  This morning during neck traction time, I was reading Radical by David Platt and these words on blind spots struck me:

"We all have blind spots--areas of our lives that need to be uncovered so we can see correctly and adjust our lives accordingly.  But they are hard to identify.  Others can often see them in us, and we rely on friends to point them out.  But the reality is, even then we have a hard time recognizing them.  We don't want to admit they exist...often until it's too late.  We discover them in hindsight, but we struggle to see them in the present." (107)

That's a powerful paragraph.  It is packed with truth.  I'd like to take a few moments and unpack it.

First, "we all have blind spots".  That's easy for him to say.   Can you agree with that statement?  I hope so.  If not, why not?

Next, "they are hard to identify."  Is that true?  YES.  And, that's why community is so important, as Platt points out.  Our friends, those closest to us, can help us see what we cannot.  Think about the car situation for a moment.  If you have other people in the car with you, they can help you look out for other cars and you are less likely to get caught by your blind spot.  It's the same in life.

Even with friends helping us, Platt says "we don't want to admit they exist".  That is also true.  It takes humility and integrity to be willing to look into our blind spots, admit their existence, and then to take steps to correct them, change them.

Who are the people on your journey with you that can help you see the blind spots in your life?  Do you have an open relationship with them in which they can speak truth into your life and you into theirs?

May you and I begin to see more clearly those things that hinder us from walking well on the journey.  May we not only see, but take steps to make the necessary changes so that those areas will no longer hinder our journey.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)
Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

~Debra