The Peril of Trusting Your Eyes
March 28, 2019
Our church building has a long, narrow corridor with windows from floor to ceiling on each side. You can see from one end of the church property to the other if you look through this windowed corridor, much like you can see traffic ahead of you by looking through the car in front of you. It’s not good or bad for people, but it’s really bad for birds. I’ve been sitting in my office this afternoon working on Sunday’s sermon. Several times I have heard thumps against the window and got up to see if someone was trying to come in. The last time I went out to look, I figured out what the sounds were. Pretty yellow-breasted birds were trying to fly through what appeared to them to be open space, but they had crashed hard into the glass and died. There were eight of them at last count. Make that nine.
It’s tragic that their eyes have deceived them. These birds think they see are seeing open space to fly through, but what their eyes have perceived and their minds have trusted has resulted in death for them. It’s not safe to trust our eyes. When we trust our eyes and believe that what we see is good, but the result may either be a bad decision, or worse, ensnarement into sin. Solomon wrote Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is death.”
But Solomon also provided solutions to the problem. The best way to avoid trusting our eyes is the trust in the Lord. The most well-known proverb is probably 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Solomon also taught us to rely on the word of God. Proverbs 16:20: “He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.” He also taught us to listen to the wisdom of others. He wrote in Proverbs 12:15: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”
To avoid the destruction that can result from trusting our own eyes, we can trust in the Lord, rely on His word, and we can seek the counsel of others. Why then do we continue to make bad decisions or fall into the same patterns of sin? I think it’s because we believe that we are wise in our own eyes. That’s the sin of pride and it leads to all kinds of consequences. When we refuse to ask God for direction in our lives and choose to go it alone, and when we ignore His Word, we can be sure that we will soon find ourselves outside of God’s will. When we live our lives in isolation from the counsel of other believers who can speak truth and wisdom into our lives, we are spurning the very people whom God has placed in our lives to help us. Simply put, if we want to be fruitful Christians, we must be humble enough to admit that cannot be wise until we seek wisdom. We don’t have innate wisdom. That’s why Solomon taught his son to seek wisdom above all else. He said it was more profitable than silver or gold. Wisdom comes from the Lord, His word and other believers. If we are unwilling to ask counsel from the Lord and His Word and from others, we are more likely to face the Lord’s discipline than to bear fruit.
This has several applications. The most important thing is to have time alone with the Lord. We all want to do this, but often we don’t. I’ve never met anyone who said that they were completely satisfied with their prayer life. We don’t want to approach this legalistically, where we require ourselves to get up at 5 a.m. every morning and spend at least an hour in prayer and Bible study. We will most likely be setting ourselves up for failure and the guilt that goes with it. But we do want to make a concerted effort to have a time and a place where we can be intentional with our relationship with God. All relationships require and investment of time. Our relationship with God is no different. A second thing we can do is to be sure that we have at least one or two close friends who we can trust to speak truth into our lives. Developing these relationships takes time. When we wade into the shallow water with them and haven’t been hurt, we can risk going a little deeper as they do the same with us. That’s how strong relationships are built. If you’ve been hurt before by trusting someone, I pray you’ll try again.
As I have heard these loud thuds against the windows today, I have wished that just one of these birds could gain wisdom, go back to the nest and tell the rest the way that they ought not to go! Sadly, there is nothing I can do to help. How can you communicate with birds? But God has communicated with US. He has given US resources so that we will not walk the path that leads to destruction, but will live a fruitful life. I pray that we will take advantage of the gifts God has provided.
