Idols of the heart keep us in a spiritual void, and we become like a person with the actual physical traits of the loss of these three senses.
If a person is born this way, God can still use them. He can heal them.
As if they were never deaf, dumb or blind to start this life in.
That is physical.
How do we get healed of our spiritual defects of deaf, dumb, and blind?
Let us start with what causes most of these defects in our character and our ability to understand the Nature of the Lord we say we love.
No idol can assure us of a God and its presence.
No focal point in a golden image of a calf will do anything for us spiritually, except get our eyes off Jesus the Christ.
The carved image of a calf will only make us come off our fasting effort early, wanting a leg of lamb to chew on.
Psalm 115:8:
“Those who make them, (idols) will be like them; and so, will all who trust in them.”
Because the idol cannot reveal himself nor communicate his attributes, we are left to invent them.
Our default character matches our own.
As we explore, the theology of our idols, we find the worship requirements malleable as the attributes adapt to our fallen nature.
Low demands and conciliatory spirit become the hallmark of the deaf, dumb and blind objects.
Jesus taught us in many places, to be part of the vine, and have ears to hear.
We can fall into the trap of not listening to His Word being preached.
Yes, we sit in the pew, Sunday after Sunday, listening.
But our hearts tend to get distracted easily in our immaturity spiritually.
When the Holy Spirit brings conviction into our hearts at times, we hear, but do not obey quickly.
This is a form of spiritual deafness too.
If we continue to ignore that still, small voice of the Spirit of God, His tone never changes, and the volume of His Voice remains at the same level.
It is our ears that get deaf to His leading.
The longer you and I wait to repent or obey a command, the harder it is to hear Him.
He will never stop talking to us. It is we who stop listening and obeying.
What is dumb/not having the ability to speak correctly in your spirit?
It is not lack of intelligence.
It is not lack of education or a degree. There are a bunch of master's degree holders, who have no clue about Jesus.
I am talking about our ability to communicate to God with the things that mean something spiritual.
He does not need our help. We need His.
Talking the Word and getting the Word of God deep into our soul is critical.
It is our spiritual gas tank.
Run out of gasoline in your car, well, call for help.
Empty spiritual tanks provide little in the way of fumes of Godliness.
We need His Word marinating in our souls.
Not so much in your memorization of the Word of God, (this is good) as much as it is the automatic response to a situation or trial.
We need it to come out of our mouths from our heart, when we need it to.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Nothing in the well? Tank empty?
Then the vain repetition and garbled words come out. We do not understand our own babbling.
Truly, the only thing, besides prayer and worship of our King Jesus, that will sustain us in the long haul of life is His Word in our Wells. Yes, the well of our salvation and deliverance.
You are only as smart spiritually, as you are absorbed by THE WORD of GOD.
Not smarts intellectually.
Spiritual intelligence about His Will and His Word is more valuable for you and me than all the degrees you could possibly attain in a lifetime. Your degrees and diplomas, coupled with ribbons and trophies, are a good sign you studied hard to get your degree and did master the world’s barometer of qualifications for jobs and careers.
All that counts, but it still won’t help you avoid eternity and its graduation ceremony.
It is either judgement, or “enter in.”
I just want one degree. The one called obedience.
Jesus often spoke of spiritual blindness. He highlighted how people could have physical sight but be blind to spiritual truths.
The Pharisees are a prime example of those who were spiritually blind, as they focused on outward rituals, while rejecting Jesus’ message of repentance and salvation in Him, and Him alone.
It freaked them out when He declared,
“I do what My Father in Heaven tells Me to do.”
Hardened Hearts.
The Bible uses the phrase “hardened hearts” to describe a state of spiritual blindness, where individuals are resistant to God’s message.
Romans 11:8:
Just as it is written:
“God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.”
Not to mention, being turned over to a debased mind, to go along with the three above-mentioned spiritual handicaps. (Romans 1:28).
Those who practiced the abominations in this chapter were filled with all unrighteousness, along with the sins of the flesh.
There was a time in my early years, filled with hatred, and addicted to various drugs, where I was a walking dead man.
I was dying physically, and the drugs were my cancer.
Violence became my drink. It filled my thirst for vengeance and getting even with people.
I was well on my way to being deaf, dumb, and blind to the truth.
It was not only the truth. It was the lie.
I did not know I bought into the lies that were killing me.
I was having too good of a time in my rebellion.
I loved it to death.
That almost worked as far as dying.
Jesus began the surgery while I was in prison.
He removed the strongholds and addictions over time after my Salvation moment.
So, it became critical for me to empty my dead well and fill it with His Presence and His Holy Word.
Empty vessels can’t carry anything but the dust of our disappointments and the air of anxiety. That is why Jesus turned mere water into wine. Not just for the wedding feast.
It was to prove His miracle working power.
Our empty vessels will hold something.
Anything.
But not just anything.
Be careful lest you and I boast, for we too will fall into a trap. That trap is called deafness, and the inability to hear or speak anything good and wholesome.
Dumbness is a lonely place.
It is a void of catastrophic, empty outer space.
You are alone amidst the stars and planets.
No name. No vision. No voice.
No one to talk to. No one to hear you.
No one there to understand your garbled words you try and say which make no sense to anyone.
And finally, blindness.
Once blindness comes, you and I will not be able to find the vessel to put His New Wine in.
We will trip over our own insecurities and emptiness.
We can come out from among the world and be separated into wholeness.
We can have ears to hear finally. We can speak clearly the oracles of God.
We can see, with eyes to see, the path.
“I am a lamp unto your feet, and a light upon your path.”
Go out at night with no moon or stars to help you see. Take a flashlight or lantern and begin to walk. You will only see a yard or two in front of you. It is dark behind you.
Since you can only see a little, does it make sense to get ahead of Jesus as He leads you?
Does it make any sense at all to get behind Him and His Will for you?
It would be better to stay by His side and look down at His footsteps and then walk where He walks.
He will not lead the blind into a pit, because He has the best vision of all.
Stay by His lamp.
When yours burns out, His light will guide you.
There will come a point in this walk with the Lord, you will see clearly.
Take off the sunglasses of fear. Do not wear them any longer.
Open your ears, and listen to His Voice behind you saying,
“Walk this way, whether to the left or right. Walk.”
Then, speak out loud…
“Jesus, I worship You and I adore you.”
He needs your voice. He needs your ears. He needs your eyes.
Besides, we can be the voice and hands and feet of the Master.
This is His intention for all who love Him.
It is easy. What is it?
He wants to use your life for His Glory.
All your life.
It is not yours to decide which way to go.
Our lives are not our own; they have been bought with price.
His Blood.
It is His Blood that enables us to hear, and speak, and see.
It is the price He paid. It cost Him everything.
What will it cost you? Everything.
Copyright © 2025 by Joe Wilkins
