Tunnel Vision?

  

   Have you ever heard the term tunnel vision?  It is a real physical condition.  It is even a condition some creatures have genetically.  For example, a dove has little or no peripheral vision and "dove's eyes" for God is a wonderful condition and phrase used in the Bible (Song of Sol.) which means you have eyes only for Him.  However, to have tunnel vision spiritually, beyond that, is not a healthy condition, yet it is a condition that is quite common in the church.  It is a condition that divides and ultimately denies the blessing of God to so many of His people.

   What the enemy does, without us seemingly being able to resist, is that he gets us fixated on one concept, one truth, one way of looking at things and traps us in that view - hence tunnel vision.  It works like this:  suppose you are in your house, looking out the north window.  You see quite well all the details, the trees, the grass,etc., everything in your field of vision out of that north window.  However, you see nothing out of the south, east and west window. What is seen out those windows is just as real as what you see, but in your fixation, you don't believe it.  You start a denomination that only views things thru the north window vision and by that vision, resist all other visions, judging and rejecting all who do not look out the north window.

   What you see out of that window is good and true but what you miss is three times bigger.  What you receive is good, but what you missed is three times more.  My friend, this describes much of modern Christianity.  Those looking out that north window see that Jesus saves.  "Wonderful, wonderful"  they shout and build their whole denomination around that vision, that one truth.  Do not tell them that God baptizes with the Holy Ghost, a view from the south window, or that He heals, a view from the west, or that He prospers, a view from the east.  "No, No!" they will shout defiantly.  "Jesus saves, Jesus saves...that is it!" defending their view from that north window.  Though they have absolute truth on their side, they are being robbed of other equally wonderful absolute truths.  They cling to that north window view with white knuckle tenacity.  Others, looking out a different window, do the same with their view.

  God saw this coming, which is why Paul prayed that the eyes of our understanding would be opened so that we would know the "hope" (what to expect to come with our calling) and that we would know the "riches" of our inheritance.  We are to know, not just some part of our inheritance, but the riches of our inheritance.  The opposite of understanding is ignorance and the same Bible book tells us that ignorance blinds the eyes and by that alienates us from the life of God.  I found myself praying for the church (and not just my church) would have eyes opened to the riches of God.  That it would begin to lift up its eyes and look to every direction and see the rain of God coming from every direction