“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses” 1 Timothy 6:12 CSB
In order to overcome strongholds in our lives, a vital part of it is confession. But in order to confess what our strongholds are, we have to identify them. That can be difficult. Often, strongholds live in our blindspot. Blind spots are areas of lives we can’t see. Typically, those around us can see it, but we can’t.
Recently I listened to an interview with Darrin Patrick. Darrin was at one point, the chaplain for the St. Louis Cardinals. He lead a large, multi-site church in St. Louis. Darrin was fired three years ago for abuse of power and an emotional affair he had with another woman. In the past three years, he has been going through a restoration process. As part of the restoration, people who had been on staff, ex-members, elders, anyone who had interacted with him at various points during his tenure as Lead Pastor were encouraged to come and have a “safe” conversation with him, meaning he had to listen to how he made them feel without responding. Many people signed up for the opportunity, it took over 2 days for it to occur. During the first day, he listened to many people say they felt used, felt like a pawn, didn’t feel connected etc. At the end of the first day, he told his wife, “These people are so sensitive. What is wrong with them?” Then the second day started. The first person came in and said they felt used, not connected. The next person came in saying the same thing. It was then he realized, “It’s me.” He realized, for years he had not seen the truth about himself, although a lot of people had tried to speak truth into his life. This was a pivotal moment in his life where God revealed to him a blindspot he did not know he had.
We all have them, Darrin is not alone. Darrin is continuing the restoration process, his walk with God closer than ever as a result of seeing his blindspot. One of the toughest prayers to pray is, “Lord, reveal my blindspots.” It is hard to take a look in the mirror and realize, the person who is causing the problem is me. It is hard taking responsibility for our actions. It is hard admitting, “Yes, I did that.” But it is worth it. It frees us from the stronghold. It gives us new life in Jesus like we have never known before. I loved what Darrin said towards the end of the interview. His wife and him have been married 26 years. He said their marriage and his relationship with his children is better than it ever has been. He realizes, if God hadn’t revealed his blindspot to him, it wouldn’t be. He had lost focus of what was important, God helped him find it again.
He can do the same for us, as he reveals our blindspots. Let’s start today:
“Lord, we want to fight the good fight for You. We want to be all in, nothing holding us back. Help us see our blindspots so we can confess them, so we can overcome them. So we can fight the good fight and take hold of the eternal life we were called too (1 Timothy 6:12 CSB). We can’t do it without You Lord, only with You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
