Unshackled Echo ~ June 10, 2019 ~ The Invisible Gorilla And Other Blindness

Those who know me or are regular readers are aware of my vision problems. A couple of months ago my vision had become so bad that I could barely function at all, and had even begun asking Leah to drive me because driving was dangerous. It looked like I would end up legally blind before the year was up if something didn't change. Something changed.

I got into to see an eye surgeon, finally, who diagnosed the problem and began treatment. I see him again next week, but things are a lot better. I can read what I'm typing without the font having to be a quarter inch or more in size. I still can't see well enough to do the fine vision work of photography and photo editing, but I can see enough to look at Leah or watch a movie with her and actually see it, and I can see enough to read, which is most important as it's hard to minister without being able to study God's Word.

I'm not going blind. It's not only not growing worse, but it's gotten a little better. I am praying for continued improvement over the next few months, and then we'll evaluate if the time for surgery has come. This time being unable to see inspired a lot of thinking on the subject of blindness. For one thing, going blind was always one of my biggest fears, and now it is not. Don't get me wrong; I most certainly would prefer to be able to see, but I imagine there are worse things than not be able to see.

I remember a friend from my youth, a blind man, named Lamar. He was amazing. He smoked a pipe, and somehow managed to never have to rest it.The same pipe every day without it getting gross. He must've known a secret to daily cleaning that I have yet to figure out. He could also walk up to a truck with the engine running, diagnose the trouble with the motor by sound, reach in and make adjustments fixing it! Seriously, I can't fix an engine with both eyes wide open,and he is somehow not losing fingers messing with a running motor while not being able to see. We prayed for his healing, and it didn't come. One day he will close his eyes and open them on the other side of eternity to see the beautiful face of Jesus, but on this side of eternity he hasn't gotten that healing.

I don't think he's happy about that, and I don't blame him. I don't think I would be thrilled if I were him. But I also think that there are things that he can do as well or better than the sighted, and that is awesome for those of us watching who are not stuck in the dark. Sometimes we may find ourselves handicapped by circumstances or the past or perhaps even the obvious, by health.  Of course our preference would be complete healing and restoration, and it sucks when that doesn't happen. It sucks for us anyway. But seeing someone keep going, keep making it, and keep walking with God despite the thorn, instead of because the thorn has been removed, especially if they do it with joy and not bitterness, can be an amazing statement pointing the way to Daddy and His power, grace, and love. Sometimes when the healing doesn't come makes a stronger statement for God than healing. I don't know why, but it's true. Lamar's blindness and ability helped me see that.

There's another type of blindness that is selective and momentary. It's the Invisible Gorilla or selective attention. Basically, back in the 1990's a researcher had people watch a film of people playing with a basketball, passing it back and forth. He instructed them to count the number of passes. Half way through the event, a woman in a gorilla suit walked through the middle of the players. When asked how many people watching saw the gorilla, half hadn't! Now, if you look this up on YouTube, you'll see the gorilla. No matter how hard you count the passes, you are informed and aware that there will be a gorilla and are looking for it. But if you hadn't been told about it, only about half of the people reading this would notice the gorilla. It's because of selective attention, and it's the same principle that causes people to run over pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists in plain sight. They are so focused on looking out for other cars that they don't see what's right in front of them that doesn't fall within their search parameters.

We can become similarly blind spiritually. We become so focused on the things that have us worried or are going wrong or the problems that haven't been fixed, the things that haven't been restored, the negative, that we miss a big God walking through our midst, moving on our behalf and holding our life together even as we feel like we are coming apart.

There's another type of blindness that can effect us spiritually. It's the familiarity blind spot. I remember one day I was driving though an area that I traveled on a frequent and regular basis when suddenly a police officer drove up behind me with his lights flashing. I had run a stop sign, and he was already writing the ticket as I looked in surprise at the back of the new stop sign at an old intersection. It had been a stop only for the side streets and not the main road for as long as I knew. Now it was a four-way stop, and I had completely failed to see the change. This is similar to the selective attention problem of the invisible gorilla. Instead of focusing on one thing so much we miss the obvious other, we aren't focused too much but not enough. Going through the regular routines and places we miss the changes and the new. God can do something, open a door, and we walk right by cursing the hallway we can't get out of. We pray for help and fail to see it when it comes becomes it's outside of our routine that we don't break.

We can help overcome the contempt of the familiar and the selective focus through awareness and looking for God and what He's doing in our lives. We can make a conscious choice to examine or lives, our days and our routines for evidence of the hand of God. And even those situations where it's not psychologically spiritual but some handicap, we can escape discouragement and bitterness if the healing doesn't come by pursuing God and learning what we can do that will bring Him glory without that vision, or that arm, or that career or that......

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 10, 2016.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.