Deaf and Blind or Hear and See?

What we can see, feel, hear, taste, and smell binds us to this world. Imagination allows our mind to form mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses. But, the product of  our mental creation is  often a baseless or fanciful one. Revelation is to make known that which is unknown by our five senses. 

 

The unknown is revealed only by the person who knows. In the unknown world of the spirit, God, who knows all, has chosen to make Himself known to us who do not know. The fullest, most complete revelation of God came through the Son. If we want to know the character of God and who He is, look at Jesus. Jesus said, " If you really know me, you will know my Father as well (John 14:7). 

 

Know means an intimate relationship like between a husband and wife in conjugal relationship. In that relationship, two become one. And so it is between a believer and the Spirit of Christ. Two become one with the Spirit of Christ inside a believer. The Apostle Paul notes, "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). And in Colossians 1:27, "God has chosen to make known the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."  

 

So, how do we know what God has made known through Christ. We know by faith. We believe. And where does faith come from?  What makes faith possible?  The Scripture says, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). 

 

Revelation on God's part and faith on our part is the transaction that transports us into the world of the unseen. God reveals. I believe. Then, I am able to see into the unseen world. I cross the threshold for what I can perceive with my five senses into what I can see, feel, and hear through the Spirit. This is not a figment of my imagination, but rather, it is truth. In fact, the unseen world of the Spirit is actually the real world. That's where my focus needs to be. "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). 

 

Once I cross that threshold, I am on the way to healing and completeness in my emotions (my heart) and mind. God gives me the wisdom of self-understanding and self-awareness. Everything I am and everything that happens to me, good or bad, begins to make sense since I see with my spiritual eyes and hear with my spiritual ears. The more I believe, the more I hear and see. The more I doubt, the less I hear and see. 

 

For those who have NOT gone through that Door by faith, they are deaf and blind. Jesus said, "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand" (Matthew 13:13). The Apostle Paul put it like this, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).  

 

Here is an illustration. Music is meaningless to the eye. Paintings, reading, and pictures have no message for the ear. The composer writes for the ear. The painter paints for the eye. In the same way, God appeals to my spirit and my deepest emotional and mental needs which cannot be satisfied through my five senses. Mysteries of faith can only be seen by the Spirit of God communicating with my spirit.  

 

Thus, I can see the mystery of  suffering and it's purpose. I can see the answer to the mystery of  "Why am I here?"  I can see the completeness and wholeness of Christ forming His image in me through His Spirit. I can see Him redeeming my brokenness and making me whole bit by bit. As a result, I know Peace and Joy.  I worship and in worship, I know more and more of Him. His love. His character. His transforming power. I see and hear what my eyes and ears have been unable to comprehend through my own human efforts. My faith doesn't rest on my human wisdom but on God's power! (1 Corinthians 2:5). 

 

The realm of the Spirit is beyond what I can see and hear with my physical senses. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). 

 

But some might ask, "Then why can't I hear?  Why can't I see?  I can testify from my own experience that there have been times, even long intervals, when I couldn't see and couldn't hear. I doubted.  Things didn't make sense. I was emotionally and mentally broken. I couldn't figure it out until I admitted my powerlessness and replaced my helplessness with His power and gift of wisdom. 

 

Jesus said that times like I went through come from a calloused heart. "For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them" (Matthew 13:15). 

 

Try explaining this to a rationalist, a humanist, or a person who has pride in his/her ability to figure out things through his/her efforts. It can't be explained. Instead, it's like Jesus explained to Peter after he made his well known confession about who Jesus is. Jesus said, "Flesh and blood [human wisdom based on the senses and human reasoning] has not revealed this to you. My Father revealed this to you! (Matthew 16:16-17).

 

So, am I blind and deaf or do I see and hear. God reveals Himself through Christ? When I believe Christ, then His Spirit comes to live in me.  My blind eyes are opened and my deaf ears hear.

 

He begins to reveal the broken places in my heart or emotions, and heals them like a broken bone heals back together in one piece.  It's amazing!

 

As the Spirit heals my heart, then my mind is also being healed.  Jesus linked heart health (emotional health) to mind health.   Unhealthy emotions cloud our ability to see and hear the Spirit living in us.  Jesus explains, "But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person" (Matthew 15:18-20).

To defile means to make unclean, impure, corrupt. If the heart is not clean, it is not whole or well. It's like drinking impure water that contains harmful bacteria.  The germs make me physically sick.  Likewise, impure emotions make the mind sick and unstable. As a result, a person is blind and deaf to see and hear the Spirit.

Only a pure heart can see the Lord.  Jesus said, "Blessed (happy) are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).

My heart then is the source of life, God-life, in me. And I must learn skills and at the same time open my heart by faith to the infilling of the Holy Spirit who is the source of wellness in my emotions. "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

Once the heart is pure, then the mind follows because what comes out of the mouth so to speak has come out of the mind flowing from the heart.  That's essentially what Jesus said.  Paul elaborated on this when he wrote, "Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires (from the emotions/heart); to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

A pure heart and a new mind give clarity of vision to see God and the ability to comprehend the voice of God.

Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see you. Open our heart, Lord. We want to know you. Open our ears, Lord. We need to hear you.

Finish this devotion and click on the link to hear and see, "God is Here" by Darlene Zschech.  Or click the arrow on the embedded video.