Recently I was “blindsided.” Blindsided means an attack that seemly comes out of nowhere, because the impact hits in such a place where vision is limited, or in an area where a person is vulnerable.
I am sure you have heard the phrase, “ Wow! That came out of nowhere!” or “I didn’t see that coming!” Also, if you are a football fan you know that blindsiding is often practiced in that sport.
My recent blindsiding experience was not physical, but spiritual, and it was aimed at shaking my faith, however, it also did affect me physically.
One evening I was talking with someone whom I love dearly about a totally positive prospect. This person was planning to fulfill a long desired dream and they were relating recent happenings that they thought might lead them to achieving their goal. As I listened in agreement, all of a sudden—“out of the blue”—they said something totally off subject and out of character for them! Instantly it was as if my breath was knocked out of me! When I was able to recover my speech, I shouted “What! What are you saying!” Yet this person, whom I am sure now was someone other than the person I loved, continued speaking of this outrageous, ungodly idea. At the time, I was so totally confused, hurt and shocked that I had to end the conversation. Then, feeling completely overwhelmed, I began to cry.
I found myself so debilitated that I was not even able to pray. Quickly, I called a godly sister in the Lord, who “just happened” to be at her weekly bible study/prayer meeting. “I need help” I said. She instantly prayed for me for strength and then said she would have her group pray also. Soon, my tears ceased and I felt my strength returning.
I was able to “pick myself up” from where I had fallen by opening my bible and reading words of help and hope. As I grew stronger I was able to cry out to the Lord in prayer and stand firm in His power and strength.
Later, when I talked with my sister in the Lord about the experience, I told her how I felt I had been completely knocked off my feet, breath taken away, unable to speak or pray, yet the Lord did renew my strength. I realized since my faith was in Christ, that I was standing on the Rock, and even though the blindsiding knocked me down, I fell onto that firm foundation of Christ, where I was able to regain the strength in my inner man that I had been blessed with in Christ. Therefore, I was able to rise again renewed and refreshed in my faith. As His word says I was “strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man…” Ephesians 3:16.
I wanted to share this experience with you, so that you could see how these spiritual blessings are indeed alive and active in our daily lives. Isaiah 40:29 says: “He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.” Thanks be to God, who has blessed us in Christ with a firm foundation in which to stand in this Spiritual Blessing of Strength!
As a follow up note to this experience, a few days later I did talk with the person again. When I asked them about our previous conversation, they said they wanted to totally apologize for what they had said. They said that they didn’t understand why they had said what they said that evening, because it was not really what they meant at all. That, to me, was a testimony that the enemy had indeed somehow entered the conversation that evening just to blindside me. In the future, I hope that I will be more aware of his tactics and be better prepared to handle his attacks. However, what he meant for evil, God used for good in many ways in my life, and for that, I am grateful for this experience.
Spiritual Blessings Blog 