Does your computer or mobile device interrupt you at inconvenient times? Last virus scan was 73 days ago. “I can’t bother with this right now,” I say while quickly triple-clicking Ask me later. “I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that.” But then the inevitable happened; a virus wiped out my laptop’s hard drive.
Losing important documents and hundreds of pictures (no, I didn’t back them up🥺) was a real eye opener. These days I am more careful to perform the necessary preventative maintenance needed to keep my computer running smoothly.
There have been times in my life when I received a similar message from God. David, you haven’t REALLY talked with me in 7.3 days. Frankly, the Lord’s admonition felt more like an interruption. My heart wasn’t ready for inconvenient truth. “But Lord, I’ve been super busy.” Note to self: Any prayer that starts with “But Lord…” means danger. A wipe-out is imminent.
The unexamined life is not worth living
Socrates
Self-reflection can be helpful, but King David, of ancient Israel, went a step further. He asked God to examine his life.
Search me, O 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.
Psalm 139:23-24
Our Heavenly Father’s scans are always accurate. He tells us the good AND the bad. On the other hand, we often only tell ourselves what we want to hear. The world can’t be trusted to give us a reliable reflection either (1 John 2:15-17). My friend Alan, from Devotional Treasures points this out beautifully in a recent post, “The News of the World.”
Willful Blindness. It happens when we consciously close our eyes and ears to information we’d rather not acknowledge. And the outcome can be disastrous.
Kind reader, was your last “heavenly heart scan” simply too long ago? Yes, being searched by God sounds harrowing. But He knows everything anyway. May as well let the Great Physician do His thing.
🙏❤️ prayers and love.
Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com
Portions of this post were taken from Wakey Wake, Cupcake, which was published on July 5, 2019.
Davids Daily Dose 
Comments
32 responses to “Willful Blindness”
You provided a nudge for me this morning too, Dawn! God is good. Thank you.
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My second reminder today to pay attention to God’s nudging. I can tell when I have neglected to spend adequate time with Him. We must be intentional about making time with Him a priority. Thanks David.
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You’re welcome, Carrie! I am grateful for your encouragement. God Bless!
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“Note to self: Any prayer that starts with ‘But Lord…’ means danger. A wipe-out is imminent.” Made me chuckle, but at the same time it is so true! Hadn’t thought of it that way before – thanks!
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I like the picture you shared, Pastor Pete! Yep, when we start making excuses to God, it’s time to tap the brakes. Blessings!
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Love your insight, “Any prayer that begins with ‘But Lord’ signals trouble ahead.” I kind of get the picture of the red signal flashing on the train tracks letting the conductor know to slow down and put one hand on the brake.
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🙏🏻❤️
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You’re welcome! Self reflection can be inconvenient, but it’s better than living an unexamined life. Thank you, and God Bless you too!
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Thanks for today’s reminder my friend. So true about Willful Blindness. It is an easy option when the conscience is so bothered. Self reflection is indeed important. Need to catch up with God then. Thank you. God bless.
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You’re welcome, CG. Thank you for your encouragement! God Bless.
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Yes, a God scan does sound harrowing, but indeed he knows our heart. Thanks for the reminder to be reflective on our own life — to let God work on us.
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You’re welcome, Sheila! Thank you for reading and commenting. Blessings!
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Great analogy, David! Thanks for the reminder that we need to keep our spiritual maintenance!!
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Thanks for the link, brother! God Bless.
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[…] format in Devotional Treasures. To give credit where it is due my good friend and brother David had suggested this some time ago as something that may be useful. He had pointed to CGThelen as a […]
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I thought the same thing, Aimee! We wrote about the same thing, but from a different angle. The Holy Spirit does amazing things! God Bless, and thank you for sharing!
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This was so awesome! It makes me wonder how my posts are similar to yours, but then again squirrel minds think alike I guess.🤔
🐿
Have a great school year.
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Agreed. God is usually gentle in His initial corrections. It’s always best to listen and heed early! Thank you for stopping by, Gary. Blessings!
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Convicting David. Sometimes the “But God” line resembles me. Then I hear this little voice in my head “Sorry son, excuse #34 needs to go”
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Yes. Amen indeed, Barb! Thank you. 🙏
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Father God, may my eyes be always on you. AMEN
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True. It never pays to play games with God. He always wins. Thank you for your input, Joseph!
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Boy have I seen the consequence of willful blindness. It used to annoy me when they played this game with me until I saw the consequences of playing these games with Jehovah
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I appreciate your perspective, Beth! Yes, Bridget is absolutely right with her thought about Psalm 139 being a comfort—to someone who has nothing to hide. Thank you for stopping by today!
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In reading your tale of lost documents and photos I had to think of how much is lost in my life when I don’t allow God to do a regular scan. I agree with Bridget’s comment above, “As we grow closer to God, the prayer found in Psalm 139 can actually become quite comforting.” Praise the Lord that “Our Heavenly Father’s scans are always accurate” and even better He can eradicate the “viruses” and fix any “corrupted files.” Thank you David for another thought provoking post!
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Thank you, brother! You make a great point about battery operated items-like phones. We must recharge with our Heavenly Father on a daily basis. God’s best to you and Susan!
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And here is that much anticipated post that we discussed, and it’s a good one too David! Thank you for the shout out as well. We must, must, must stay connected to Father God, if not we will run into trouble or out of power. Our moblie phones run merrily on stored battery power, but if we don’t connect them to a power source they die! God bless you brother.
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Amen, me too! Thank you Lord.
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And I too have ignored God’s warnings before. I can think of some very distinct moments when this happened. I was so glad He has a better hold of my heart now! Thank You, Lord, for Your grace and mercy!! ✝️
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I also agree that Psalm 139 can actually be a comfort to us—knowing that we are fully known by God. Blessings!
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Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Bridget. Yes, I learned the hard way that it’s important to back up files and keep your computer up to date. Blessings!
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As we grow closer to God, the prayer found in Psalm 139 can actually become quite comforting. Our love for Him overshadows the things our flesh wants. But it still can be easy to slip into mindsets and desires that aren’t of God. So it’s probably a good idea to pray this prayer on occasion. Thanks so much for this encouraging post. So sorry about your hard drive. I have been in that boat too!
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