Daily devotional, Feb 22, 2024 Blind Massage

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

My good friend Jasmin introduced me to blind massage many years ago. One afternoon, we went to this massage center where all the masseuses are either fully or partially blind. We booked an appointment. I was surprised that even though they cannot see my shoulders and back, they seem to know where the tired muscles are, and were experts at relieving aches and pains.

I then remembered what St. Paul the Apostle said. In his letter to the Philippians, he encouraged early Christians to focus on their goals in Christ, and not let challenges hinder them from attaining their prize.

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14

And as I looked back to that afternoon with my friend, I realised that the masseuses there did not allow their handicap to keep them from decently earning a living. Instead, they used it to be more sensitive towards meeting the needs of their customers. No matter the challenges they have, they were successful in allowing their clients to relax and destress.

Unlike the blind therapists, we have a perfect vision that should have supposedly allowed us to move on from our past. But sometimes we get stuck in it. Sometimes we also become frozen because of fear for our future. But God calls us to lay the past behind, leave the future to Him, and take hold of the present time we are in.

We can never seek Him by thinking of the good or the bad things that happened in our lives, nor could we live out His plans for us by obsessing over what could happen in the future. We must live in the present, and fix our gaze on Jesus so that we could tread past the difficulties we could meet in our journey:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 
Hebrews 12:1-2

To move forward, our Lord and Savior does not ask us to trust Him blindly as we go through life. All He asks of us is to never forget his faithfulness to us through the past challenges He delivered us from. Yes, even during the times we were disobedient to Him and we did not deserve His love. These instances should encourage us to move forward and embrace the challenges, because we know that even if we fall, we have a God who will never leave us and will carry us through.

"Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with them who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations." 
Deuteronomy 7:9

So what is our goal? As followers of Jesus our main goal is to live like Him and encourage others to do the same. As moms, this means that we should emulate Jesus Christ’s character in shepherding our children, and raise them in Christlikeness. That we do not let our financial, marital, physical difficulties, and past sinfulness hinder us from bringing ourselves and our families to the Lord. That we will continue to press on no matter how hard it is to follow His example. And we will do this because we know that walking with the Lord in this lifetime, and living in eternity with Him is the prize that awaits us.

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." 
1 Peter 5:10

Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Philippians 3:10-16 and Hebrews 12:1-3 to dig deeper on today’s topic.

Reflection Question: What keeps you from fixing your eyes on Jesus?

Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for your faithfulness. May you strengthen me enough to not let our challenges hinder me from following you. And that I will remain focused on you so I could live a life that glorifies you. Amen.