If you’re anything like me, then you’ve had times
when you could see perfectly well, and yet you were nearly blind. Two of Virginia’s interstates have particular
problems with patches of perilous fog.
According to Virginia’s Department of Transportation:
Within a 3-week
period in 1998, two major fog-related crashes occurred on I-64 where it crosses
Afton Mountain in Virginia. The first involved 65 vehicles, 40 injuries, but no
fatalities… At the time of the crash, visibility was reduced to 5 to 10 feet.
The crash began at 12:42 p.m. and continued for almost 20 minutes. The second
less serious crash occurred 17 days later and involved 21 vehicles and no
fatalities. Similar crashes have occurred on I-77 over Fancy Gap Mountain in
Carroll County, Virginia, as recently as May of 2001, when a 50-vehicle
accident occurred. Another Fancy Gap crash (March 1997) lasted for 1 hour and 5
minutes.[i]
As a result of the many crashes that have taken
place, VDOT has installed in-pavement lighting systems that help guide motorists
through the fog, similar to the lights in airport runways. In addition, lighted signs saying “Fog on
Mountain” state the obvious. I’ve nearly
crashed a couple of times because of fog on Afton. When there’s nothing wrong with your eyesight
but you’re suddenly blinded when you’re going 65 miles per hour, it’s a scary
thing.
Saul suffered from a
similar kind of blindness, the tragic results of which were similar to a
multi-car pileup. Later in life, as he
reflected on the time when he had persecuted the church, he would write that
Satan “has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might
not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4[ii]).” Along with other Pharisees, he saw Jesus
and the young church as a threat to Judaism and the nation of Israel. In his blindness to the truth, he tried to
stamp out Christianity, first in Jerusalem and then in Damascus.
On the road to that
trade city, Jesus appeared to Saul in a light so bright that he lost his
vision. We often say that people have a
“Damascus Road experience” when they have a sudden conversion—but I don’t
believe Saul was converted on the road.
Jesus appeared, identified Himself, and told Saul to go to Damascus and
wait to be told what to do. Whether
because he was fasting or dumbfounded, for three days he neither ate nor drank
as he waited for Jesus’ instructions.
Three days to contemplate his physical and spiritual blindness. Three days for the Holy Spirit to convince
him of the truth, convict him of sin, and convert his heart. Then healing came from a disciple named
Ananias, who laid hands on him and said:
“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared
to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain
your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”And immediately there fell
from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up
and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened (Acts 9:17-19).
We
don’t know exactly what these scales looked like, but they seem to be some
physical manifestation of his spiritual sightlessness. Jesus had been healing Saul’s spiritual
blindness over those three days, but He only took an instant to heal Saul’s physical
eyes. As the scales came off, Saul’s
vision was made clear—physically as well as spiritually. The conversion was complete.
In this story, the first set of scales belonged to
Saul. These scales blinded his eyes and
kept his heart from seeing God’s truth. As
these scales were removed, Saul was saved.
But even Christians can be blinded at times. We, too, need God to heal our foggy vision.
In this story, the second set of scales belonged to
Ananias. Acts 9:10-15 says:
…The Lord said
to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And
the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called
Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named
Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a
man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might
regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at
Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief
priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to
him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name
before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”
Saul’s scales were like scabs
over his heart and eyes, preventing him from seeing God’s truth. Ananias’ scales, on the other hand, were like
balances that he used to judge people’s worth.
Ananias weighed Saul in the balance and found him lacking. He was fearful of what Saul might do to
believers in Damascus if his health was restored. And, truth be told, he wasn’t really sure
that Saul deserved such grace. But a
command from Jesus set the disciple’s heart aright, and he went in obedience to
Saul’s aid.
People today suffer from the same
two types of scales: one in which they cannot see and the other in which they
cannot quit judging what they see. Both
types of people need salvation from their scales. I pray that God will defog your vision and
your heart, and that like Saul, you’ll have a saving encounter with the risen
Christ. Then, I pray that you’ll see
your neighbor from God’s perspective rather than from your own position of
judgment. The Lord wants you to see and
be converted. He then wants you to
minister to all without judgment. He
wants to save you from two sets of scales.
[i]
http://www.virginiadot.org/vtrc/main/online_reports/pdf/03-cr2.pdf. Pg. 5.
May 21, 2015.
[ii]
All scriptures taken from the NASB.
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