Blind, Deaf, And Dumb

            We need to examine everything about ourselves, especially the way we speak, and how we listen.   

            Listen to the Word of the Lord:  Isaiah 42:19-20 - "Who is blind except my servant, or deaf like my messenger I am sending? Who is blind like the one committed to me, or blind like the LORD's servant?   You've seen many things, but you pay no attention. His ears are open, but he doesn't listen." 

            Now at first this may sound like a bad thing.  Is it really true that Jesus is blind and deaf to many of the things we say and do?  Yes indeed, and it is a good thing too.  Suppose every time we said something to God, He got upset because of the way we said it.  Or maybe we had ignored something He said so all He would talk about was how hurt He was.  How much time did Jesus spend complaining to the disciples about  the attacks that were directed at Him?  Not according to the above scripture.

            We need to really be dead to self.  If we have been "crucified with Christ", then we are dead to self, dead to the slanders and slights of other people.  Dead people don't care if someone walks on them.  If you are in a grave yard, you try not to walk directly on the graves out of respect.  But if you do step on one, does the dead person yell at you?  Do they take offense?  Of course not, because they are dead! 

            So if I am dead, and my life is hid with Christ, then if someone says hurtful things to me, I won't hear.  I am living God's life.  If they do things, we won't see.  We will just let God's love flow, and resist every thought of self that comes into mind.

            Look at Galatians 5:24:  "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."   The real question I need to ask myself is whether or not I have really given myself to Jesus, do I really belong to Him.  We may have committed to Christ once, but we forget it is a daily task.  Self will spring back to life on any day I do not start out killing it and then with prayer and watching keep it in the grave.  Again God's Word says:  "I die daily"  (1 Corinthians 15:31)  The apostle Paul wrote this because  "his will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of following inclination, he did God's will, however crucifying to his own nature."  {8T 313} 

            Self is always looking out for hurts and insults.  Many are the times I have listened to someone speaking to another person, and then listened to the one spoken to complain or get angry at what they supposed were "put downs" or "insults" while  I am thinking to myself:  "I didn't hear it that way".  My "self" was not involved, just an objective observer.  But when "self" is involved, it is another matter.  Self is sinful and evil, always looking out for hurts either real or imagined.  And so self must be put to death every day. 

            "The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness."  {SC 43}   "The field of conflict is the domain of the heart. The battle which we have to fight--the greatest battle that was ever fought by man--is the surrender of self to the will of God, the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature, born of blood and of the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up. 

            He who determines to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of an unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Selfishness and pride will make a stand against anything that would show them to be sinful. We cannot, of ourselves, conquer the evil desires and habits that strive for the mastery. We cannot overcome the mighty foe who holds us in his thrall. God alone can give us the victory."  {MB 141}

            By the power of God's grace, I can also be blind, deaf, and dumb to what others may do or say.  Someone did something mean to me?  Ask God to show you how you can do good in return.  Ridicule or insults spoken to me?  In the power of God act as if you cannot hear.  Pray  "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips."  (Psalm 141:3)  and speak only love in return.  Jesus has left us His example to follow:  "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;  (1 Peter 2:23)

      "I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."  (Psalm 16:8)