Have you ever driven your car when it begins to rain? As the torrent of rain floods your windshield, you turn your windshield wipers on. Immediately you discover a problem. You yell at your car, “I can’t see!”
Helicopters, whirlers, twisters, or whirligigs
It just takes a small leaf or whirligig (winged seeds from maple trees) to get under a wiper blade, and your vision is so limited, so impaired that you must find a place to pull off the road, stand in the rain, a physically remove that tiny obstacle. Getting back in your car, you immediately see the difference; you can see!
As Christians, we experience whirligigs in our spiritual lives from time to time. A spiritual whirligig is an obstacle that comes into our lives and, no matter how small, prevents us from effectively using the spiritual gifts God has given us. These tiny obstacles can even blind us to the vision God has placed within us.
Common obstacles
An obvious obstacle is a sin, a missing of God’s target. It can be seemingly insignificant. Perhaps it’s a TV series that “everyone” is into. Or, maybe an income problem has caused a failure to tithe. It could be entertaining an infatuation, or harboring jealousy, or lack of forgiveness. There are myriad tiny obstacles that can separate us from the fullness God desires us to experience in Christ Jesus. Though they are small, Whirligigs are mighty; they prevent us from seeing as God intends.
You may ask, “How do I discover something that may be a tiny whirligig?” The good news is that that the Holy Spirit lives within the children of God. God’s Word tells us in Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” Finding the whirligig is accomplished through prayer. The removal begins with prayer but often requires us to “get out in the rain.”
- Such small things can cause great difficulties. They are best dealt with quickly. We must do something physically:
- Ask for forgiveness.
- Turn off the streaming service.
- Confess and repent of your jealousy.
- Give up something so you can pay your tithe.
Prayer
I pray, right now, that the Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth, will show you any whirligigs that are interfering with your spiritual sight. And if you have one stuck under your spiritual windshield wipers, I pray that you will have the courage and commitment to our Lord to remove it so you can clearly see how to stay on Christ’s narrow path. In the name of Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, I pray.
In closing, I encourage you to, “Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 12:12 RSV
Photo by Mark Boss on Unsplash
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