Blinding Eyes

My grandpa was in Africa as a volunteer carpenter for a Lutheran mission. He went because he loved to hunt, and it was his dream to hunt big game in Kenya. One day on a hunt, he walked by a tree with a spitting cobra in it, lying in wait for prey. These cobras attack by spitting venom into the eyes of their potential prey to blind them.

Grandpa was spit in the eyes.

I remember being horrified as a kid when he told me that story. I wondered why he was still alive…and could see fine. He took off his glasses and held them up, “Because of these. My glasses were a shield. The venom did nothing because it hit the lenses and I ran away and was fine.”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel.”

He also wrote to the Ephesians, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

Notice it is unbelievers who are blinded in 2 Corinthians 4. Unbelievers as in not having faith. But it is the shield of faith—believing God at His Word—that protects us from being blinded by the evil one.

Grandpa didn’t just put his glasses on when he thought he was in danger. He would have been too late. He kept his glasses on all the time, and that’s why he was protected, even though unaware of the impending attack.

Soldiers in battle hold their shields up at all times. They never know what direction arrows will be shot from, or when. Arrows come in silently. So even as they attack, their shields are in place. It’s why Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:16, “IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES take up the shield of faith.”

A genuine faith is not one that we pick up and put down. Christianity isn’t just a church thing. If it’s genuine, it’s an everyday, all-the-time thing. We believe God for who He is—His goodness, protection, and presence—at all times. The evil one is on the attack, and we never know what direction he will strike from, or when. It’s why our faith isn’t something we put on and take off, pick up and put down. It’s something we clothe ourselves with all the time. We have it at home and at work, when with our friends or facing enemies.

That’s the only way our ability to see—our minds—will be protected from the constant threat of the enemy’s attack.

Believe God. He is your shield. Believe Him at all times and in all circumstances.