Blind Spots

God has an awesome plan for your life. A plan to bless you and make you a blessing now and in the generations to come. Two of my all time favourite authors are long gone but their books still change lives.

Knowing God’s desire to use us, the enemy is always looking to minimise our impact. He seeks to use our weak points to hold us back and derail our destinies.

Jehoshaphat was one of Judah’s greatest kings. He loved God dearly and was a man of great faith. He had a revelation of the power of praise that still speaks to the church today. However, like most of us, he had a blind spot.

Blind spots

Family traditions can be wonderful as long as they don’t cut across God’s purposes. Family was extremely important to King Jehoshaphat but he seemed to be compelled to honour family, even if that meant dishonouring God.

He somehow felt obligated to support Ahab, Israel’s most evil King, just because he was family. When Ahab asked, Jehoshaphat felt bound to say yes and even went to war in partnership with the wicked King. God sent a prophet to confront Jehoshaphat of his wrong-doing. Despite this, he continued to err in this area.

The impact on others

To me the most tragic consequence of Jehoshaphat’s blind spot was his succession plan. This great leader, who loved God with all His heart, made Jehoram king after him, just because he was his first born. The Bible plainly states in 2 Chronicles 21:13 that all his brothers were better than him but tradition said you give the throne to your eldest.

Jehoram murdered his brothers (to remove any threat to his throne), married Ahab’s daughter and worshipped idols. Then Jehoram’s son Ahaziah, Jehoshaphat’s grandson, was made king. He was so wicked that God had to raise up a King in Israel named Jehu to destroy all Ahab’s living relatives including Ahaziah.

I believe God sent the prophet to Jehoshaphat in the hope that he would surrender his weakness and allow the love of the Lord to change his heart. Instead, God had to raise up a man to cut off Jehoshaphat’s only grandson.

During Jehoshaphat’s lifetime, the people prospered but after his death, Judah paid a very high price for their former leader’s blind spot.

A matter of the heart

You and I are made in the image of God. God is great and His plan is for you to be great and to leave a great legacy. Proverbs 4:23 in the NLT says: “Guard your heart for it determines the course of your life.” These things are always a matter of the heart.

Maybe Jehoshaphat’s issue was that he would not receive correction? After all, God sent a prophet to shine a light on his ways. If that was his problem, it was probably generational because his dad King Asa wouldn’t take correction from a prophet either.

The biggest giant I have ever faced was a debilitating problem with intimacy that marred the first ten years of my marriage. One thing that helped me keep fighting was my desire for my daughter to be free. It took more than a decade, but when my heart got healed, the chains fell off and I destroyed that giant. As a result my marriage today is wonderful and my daughter will not have to fight that battle in her future.

Shine your light

I want to encourage you (in the words of the Song of Songs) to catch the little foxes that spoil the vine. In our own strength, we can’t do much. Psalm 64:6 says that “both the inward thought and heart of man are deep.” Only God really knows our hearts.

But when we ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light into the depths of our hearts, He reveals the issues that the enemy is using to hold us back. He will reveal in order to heal.

If you want to be free to fulfil your purpose, it is time to allow God to dig deep and heal the foundations of your heart. Why not get hold of our books or even better come to Healed for Life. It’s a journey of truth but the outcome is freedom, stability and security.