Spiritual scotomas

When I was young, I was riding in the car with my mom when suddenly it started raining heavily. I was listening to the radio and had the volume up pretty loud. My mom told me to turn the music down so she could see better. I replied: “Mom, you see with your eyes, not your ears.” However, when I grew older, I was able to understand what she meant. Although we see with our eyes, what we hear—or what we choose to listen to—affects how we see. In other words, our focus is affected by what we hear.

The scientific term for a blind spot or area of low vision is a “scotoma.” Listening to anything contrary to the Word of God can cause a spiritual scotoma to grow. Spiritual scotomas do not allow us to clearly see the promises of God. If we do not see the promises of God, how can we stand on them? The devil is constantly speaking things into our lives, hoping that we will receive what he has said. If we receive what he has said, confusion and frustration set in, and spiritual scotomas begin to form and grow. Our cure comes from trusting and abiding in God’s Word to prevent and conquer the devil’s plan.

The devil’s goal is to knock us out of heavenly places. He and his kingdom operate in darkness. In that darkness, they torment, confuse, frustrate, kill, steal and destroy. It is in that darkness where we find ourselves ill-equipped for battle and overwhelmed to the point of destruction.

Once, during a blackout, I found myself in a bad situation. It was dark, and I did not have a flashlight near me to give me light. The closest flashlight was in the garage. That meant I had to find my way to and through the garage, in the darkness. While in the garage, I hit my shin, bumped my shoulder and injured other parts of my body, all because I was trying to accomplish something or possess something while fighting the darkness. Finally, I found the flashlight and turned it on. The light from it allowed me to pierce through the darkness. In other words, the light gave me authority over the darkness.

The Word of God operates in the same manner as that flashlight. The devil and his demons operate in dark areas—our blind spots—when we find ourselves spiritually ill-equipped. However, the Word of God is a light unto our pathways (Ps. 119:105) and gives us authority over all of the dark areas in our lives.

The Apostle John wrote these words in 1 John 1:6-7, “If we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sins” (KJV).

The devil wants us to ignore the dark areas in our lives so that we will continue to walk in darkness. He has lied to us and convinced us of a narrative that is contrary to what God has spoken about us. For example, how many of us have heard the following comments spoken in a negative tone: “You are just like your daddy;” or “You are just like your mother”? Many of us have accepted that insult as a truth in our lives, but we need to stop accepting lies spoken of us right now. Instead, we need to look to our heavenly Father. We must embrace God’s thoughts and receive His words concerning us (Jer. 29:11).

Generational curses and habits have planted themselves in the dark areas of our lives, but the blood of Jesus has cleansed us and will continue to cleanse us from all ungodliness and sin. The knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has pierced the darkness, giving us authority over those dark areas of our lives. Let us pray today for Him to remove our spiritual blind spots, that we may walk in light.