The Blind Spot
Jon 2:1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. {by...: or, out of mine affliction} {hell: or, the grave}
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. {midst: Heb. heart}
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
(KJV)
I want to share a story with you and see if it sounds familiar. Has this ever happened to you? The other day I was driving in my car. And I was driving in the right hand lane on route 81, There I was cruising along, listening to some praise and worship music, and I was having a little personal worship service in the car. A-men. I do that quite often while I am driving in the car. It’s one of those rare times that I am alone and I can talk with God and spend some time in worship with no interference, so I love those moments and have learned to cherish those times. No interference that was until I got stuck behind what I like to call a speed challenged driver. I found myself behind one of those slower drives, you know the type, they do about 5 miles below the speed limit both hands on the wheel and they aren’t moving for nobody, you know the type, stop looking at me like that, stop being so religious, you know what I am talking about, bless God you may be one of those people, and I will be praying for you deliverance, Ha Ha thank God I was in a time of worship can I get an A-men or who knows what I would of done, just kidding, not really… We live in the south and its an unwritten law in the south that when you enter the high way it’s the common mans NASCAR track and you best be ready to get it on, the flag has dropped and its time to go a racing. So there I was getting ready to pass the slower driver, bless her heart, and I began to pull into the passing lane. I looked in the side view mirror and it was all clear and then I did a quick glance over my shoulder and it was clear so I put on my blinker and proceeded to pull into the passing lane. To my surprise and utter panic I was met with a loud honking horn from the car that was in the passing lane right next to me. A car that I could not see at all. So I jerked the van back into the slow lane and I could feel my heart getting ready to beat out of my chest. Have ever found yourself in this situation? You see the car next to me was in my blind spot and I couldn’t see it all.
Here are a few definitions for a blind spot
• a subject about which you are ignorant or prejudiced and fail to exercise good judgment; "golf is one of his blind spots and he's proud of it"
• A blind spot, also known as a scotoma, is an obscuration of the visual field. A particular blind spot known as the blind spot, or physiological blind spot, or punctum caecum in medical literature is the place in the visual field that corresponds to the lack of light-detecting photoreceptor cells ...
• A blind spot in vehicles are part of areas that cannot be directly observed under existing circumstances. Blind spots exist in a wide range of vehicles, from cars, trucks, motorboats and aircraft.
• An area where radio reception is weak or nonexistent.
So we see that there are all types of blind spots. There are Physical blind spots where it affects our eyes and we can’t see properly and there are metaphorical blind spots like think we are a great golfer when the truth is we are lucky to break 150. And there are blind spots in our communications like dead air waves and there are blind spots in our vehicles which cause terrifying situations like I found myself in the other day. There are all types of blind spots. But the one that I want to talk to you about today is a
“Spiritual Blind Spot”
A spiritual blind spot always leads us into what is called spiritual blindness. Hellen Keller was once asked the question “What could be worse than being blind?” to which she replied “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”
Friends, sometimes we spend extended periods of time living our lives in the blind spot. And when we live our lives in the blind spot what happens is we cant see things the way that God sees things. Our perception becomes flawed our sight is altered and our lives fall short of Gods intended plan. We are blinded to things of God that he has destined for our lives thus cutting off his blessings and our destiny is left unfulfilled. Life becomes hard, worship becomes difficult, and forgiveness becomes impossible because the blind spot causes us to live by sight and not vision. Have you ever found yourself living life in the blind spot? Well its ok you’re not alone. What we have to do when we find ourselves living life in the blind spot is to recognize that its just a blind spot, it’s a spot nothing more and nothing less, its not a permanent residence. You don’t have to spend one more second of your life living in the blind spot. God never intended his children to live life in the blind spot. He has always intended for his children to live in the “Sweet spot” Listen to the definition of what a sweet spot is: A Sweet spot is The area around the center of mass of a bat, racket, or head of a club that is the most effective part with which to hit a ball.
There is a spot on a baseball bat, that when the batter hits the ball with that spot a special force is created, a force that far exceeds the force of a normal swing, are you tracking with me on this one, a special inertia is produced, glory to God, hallelujah, and the power of the swing is multiplied exponentially and thus it almost always produces a home run. Ohhhhh There is a sweet spot in the life of the believer, Praise the Lord, that when you hit this spiritual sweet spot everything comes together, Bless God, The Father The Son The Holy Spirit Combine forces and a spiritual Inertia is created that far exceeds the common life, Favor comes together, Grace comes together, Mercy comes together, Abundance comes together, Healing comes together, Blessings come together, Power comes together and the result of this spiritual sweet spot always produces a home run for God, souls get saved, lives get turned around, Churches become on fire, revival breaks out, marriages are saved, families are reunited, entire cities are changed from the glory of the sweet spot, drug addicts get set free, alcoholics put down the bottle and pick up the Bible, ohhh listen you ought to be praising him right about now.. God wants you to love your life in the sweet spot not the blind spot.
Let me share with you a story from the Bible that shows a person who transitioned from a life in the blind spot to a life in the sweet spot. Lets take a quick look at the Life of Jonah. Jonah was called by the lord to do a special work for God. God was calling him, God wanted to use him a mighty way, God was calling him to got to Nineveh and preach repentance to the Assyrians.
Jonah 1
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
Now The Assyrians were the most hated people of the day, they were the enemy of God and Jonah had a contempt hatred for these people and it caused him to live his life in the Blind Spot. It caused him to have impaired vision which led to spiritual blindness. Which led him to have flawed perception. So instead of fulfilling his destiny in the Lord he chose to run and flee and to live his life in the blind spot.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
One thing I want you to notice is what it says in verse three “and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” When wee choose to live in the Blind spot it will always cost us something. Notice Jonah had to pay for his rebellious trip to Joppa. The blind spot will always cost us something , either money or family or relationships, or friends. One thing for certain is that it will be costly. A life in the blind spot is a life funded with the unfulfilled missions of apathetic Christians. When we live in the blind spot we will always run from the presence of the Lord, it causes us to do foolish things, and we chose to walk by sight instead of walking by faith. And we see Jonah choosing to do the same. Jonahs blind spot was a seed of hatred that had been watered over the years and it had its roots planted deep in his life and He was blind to the fact that it was keeping him from fulfilling his God given Destiny. This is the epitome of living your life in the Blind Spot.
How does Jonah transition from living a life in the Blind Spot to living a life in the Sweet Spot of God? God does something miraculous; God does something ridiculous, God does something so foolish, with the INTENTION to get the ATTENTION of Jonah. I want you to look at your neighbor this morning and say
“Thank God For The Whale” “Thank God for the Whale” Thank God for the whales is our lives! The God sent attention getters, the God breathed, God sent distractions in our lives that snap us out of our dilemma, that jolt us out of our blind spots and catapult us towards our destiny and a life in the sweet spot of God.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
Sometimes God sends the storms in our lives the great winds to shake us from our slumber, to awaken the spirit within, so that we might realize the potential that God has planted inside each one of us. It’s when we become broken when our spirits are low that our eyes look to the heavens and we can call on the Lord for salvation. So the next time you feel like your are being pressed on every side with no hope of getting out of it, remember that it just might be a God sent storm to awaken His Spirit within and know that you are getting ready to transition from the blind spot to the sweet spot.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
It’s in the belly of the whale where we transition from the blind spot to the sweet spot. Its at our lowest point where God opens our eyes and Gives sight to the blind. Its in these moments of vulnerability that God nudges us towards destiny and for some us we begin to walk by faith for the first time and we begin to have vision rather than sight for the first time and its where we experience the sweet spot for the first time.
Jonah 2
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.
3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.
Notice what Jonah says in verse 4. You see its in verse 4 where Jonah Finally gets it. Everything becomes clear to Jonah in the belly of the whale. Because Jonah, had chosen to live in the blind spot and because Jonah, full of his hatred towards the Assyrians because of this he says “I am cast out of thy sight” In other words he realizes he is in the Blind Spot of God. Praise God, when we come to our senses it causes the sweet spot of God to become clear to us and we ought to do what Jonah does we ought to do what the Prodigal son did and that is “We look again toward the Holy Temple” we turn again toward a loving and compassionate God. And when we do that brothers and sisters we are preparing to hit a home run with God.
When we live our lives in the sweet spot of God miracles happen, the supernatural becomes the natural, the things that have been chasing you are put on the run and you start to do the chasing, favor comes your way, abundance comes your way, healing comes your way, faith comes your way, you begin to call things that are not as though they are, mountains begin to move, fires begin to spark, lives begin to change and God is Glorified, give God some praise in His house this morning.
Look what happens next
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Jonah 3
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
That’s the sweet spot of God, The God that I serve is the God of second chances, and He’s the God that’s married to the backslider He’s the God of the Sweet spot. Listen you may not have gotten it right the first time, But I have a word for you today, Start to pray that God sends a whale your way, Look out over the Horizon there is a big fish coming your way, hearken your ear to the lord because I can hear the sound of rain coming. Hallelujah and like Jonah begin to look again toward thy holy temple. Because the sweet spot is here and the water is warm. Will you step into the river with me this morning?
