A dear friend recently died of cancer. She had more than her share of troubles in this life, which as Job said: "Is of few days and full of trouble" (Job 14:1). She was intelligent and had a zest for living - the kind of person you don't forget easily. She fought health problems all of her life, it seemed. Like most people, some of the problems were due to areas of blindness or beliefs she had gotten from somewhere. She drank distilled water for years and thus robbed her body of needed minerals (albeit unknowingly). She had a built-in resistance to doctors and trusted on self-medication a great deal. All of us need to be wise, as there are doctors and then there are doctors. However most of us avoid facing problems when we are not forced to. We tell ourselves we are not sick, although we may be a little sensitive to things in the environment. We may have trouble eating and digesting our food - but we are not sick.
Six weeks before she died, we had a telephone conversation (not the only one). She had had an operation a couple of years before that and a tumour was removed. She was convinced the malignancy was gone. A few months later she was not feeling well and we spoke of whether she should have follow-up examinations. She told me the doctors were telling her she had cancer, but they were wrong. She was not sick. She only had a lump in the area of the operation and if they would take that out, she would be OK. The doctors were: "uncaring and simply wrong in the treatment they offered and the diagnosis" they were giving her. She was angry at the whole medical profession. She called me less and less frequently because I encouraged her to at least listen to those who were trained and educated in recognizing disease and who could help her - even if all they could do was to lessen the pain and discomfort in the last few weeks of her life. She died just as the doctors said she would and finally had to admit that she really was sick. She did not have much of a family, but her friends will not easily forget her. She was anointed several times and her future is totally in God's care now.
What is it that causes us to have "partial blindness " in our lives? Why do we go into a state of denial in some areas of life? "I'm not sick", "I don't have a drinking problem", "I don't do drugs", "I never have taken performance enhancing drugs" and on and on the list goes. We insist that something is not what it is, in spite of piles of evidence or concerns expressed by our closest family and friends. Star athletes have lied directly to the press and in public over and over again - denying that they cheated. We seem to be able to deny that we have a problem until we have a huge crisis. By that time, the problem is often impossible for us to handle.
Why would we seemingly prefer to lose our jobs and life-savings, respect from others, our land and even our lives - rather than look into the mirror of reality? What is there in us that makes us prefer darkness to light? (John 3:19). The reference in John is spiritual, but it is amazing how it applies to almost everything we do - that we seem to prefer to be in the dark. Why do we suffer with a problem or weight we are carrying until we collapse?
King Rehoboam was given good advice about correcting the troubles and problems his father King Solomon had given Israel by the time of his death (I Kings 12:7,8). He chose to lose the nation rather than to act on the advice of his sages. The whole land was sick - but he did not know it (Isa. 1:5,6). He heard what he wanted to hear. This seemed to be an affliction of many rulers - and still is.
In our time, the sudden worldwide collapse in trade, investment values, manufacturing and monetary systems did not happen overnight. The collapse is a result of years of blindness and greed - with little or no thought to the long-term effects. As little as three years ago a lone voice in the field of economics spoke out about the danger - but was drowned out by the chorus of nay-sayers. Denial of a problem does not make it go away. Denial of sickness prevents us from seeking a cure, and often the best time for a cure is in the early stages - when the illness is not life-threatening. Our world is generally governed with our most able, trained people in the areas of trade, commerce, banking and politics. It is incredible that they could have taken us so far into the danger of financial ruin without noticing the signs of danger all along the road.
But in our world of "freedom of choice" and " human rights", self inflicted pain and blindness are allowed. It seems we would rather die than take advice and change our lives. God knew that about people. He set two paths in front of Israel - the way of life and the way of death (Deut. 30:18-20). That same choice went out to the whole world at that time and it is still before mankind. Somehow we close our eyes to truth and God's way, and experiment with anything else. God encouraged them to choose life but allowed them to choose death. Yet, God keeps trying to help us see and to lead us out of self- denial. We too make every attempt to help our friends and families. We too are bewildered when we see people purposely denying their conditions - whether it is health or overextending their finances. We too might be among those who deny our personal condition. Jesus warned all who "see" the problems that others ignore in themselves - that they might just check to see if they too have a log in their eye (Matt. 7:4).
Solomon was given the potential to become the wisest, richest and finest king ever known - the most beloved king in history (I Kings 3:12-14), but he went on and on marrying hundreds of foreign wives against God's advice (I Kings 11:1,2), seeking answers through personal experience (Eccl. 2:3-10) and refusing to heed the words of his father (King David) and of God (I Kings 11:6-10). Israel suffered under the late years of the rule of Solomon - but in His mercy, God allowed Solomon to live out his life before visiting disaster on Israel (1 Kings 11:12). Solomon continued to insist he was OK - yet went so far down the path of spiritual illness that he worshipped the idols of his wives.
History tells many stories. It is easy to see the blindness and faults of others. It seems that something inside of us makes us avoid really standing off and examining ourselves for things that displease God and need correction. Jesus explained that even at the end time some will come to Him proclaiming all the wonderful things they did for Him - and He will say He did not know them (Matt. 7:21-24). Christians carry the name of Christ, but have not been careful to study the scriptures that tell of that one true Christ. Long prayers are made, forms of worship are put in place - as though God will be pleased with whatever we do. Amazingly enough, people will be able to do "wonders". It is not only we who are at fault. There is a great force striving to deceive mankind. Satan is that great deceiver (Rev. 12:9). He can perform great signs (Rev. 13:14). Humans seem to be willing victims and the art of self-deception and the attempt to gain support from those around us feeds that deception. John wrote that many deceivers go into the world (2 John 7). What we all fail to recognize are our own blind-spots - and we do have some. True followers of Jesus Christ seek guidance from God. They examine themselves and ask for help from the Lord (Psalm 26:2). God lays truth and light before us - we are expected to pick it up (I Cor. 11:28). Is our self-examination enough? Will we suffer needlessly because we have trouble looking in our personal mirror? Do we really want to know? Won't someone please tell us??