Have you ever bumped a full cup, resulting in beverage spillage and a realization that you were way too overly confident? Haha that happens to me all the time so it’s fortunate that most of the time I’m drinking water. Sometimes cups can get so full that even a slight nudge will make some of its contents splash over the edge and fall out. I feel like our minds are the same way… we can pack so much into them that, at the slightest rattle or even of its own accord, some stuff gets pushed out… maybe even the most important stuff…
One of my favorite works by C.S. Lewis is called “The Screwtape Letters.” Perhaps you’ve read it. In this series of letters, one demon named Screwtape is writing to his nephew, Wormwood, on how to best undermine faith in his “patient” and to prevent the formation of virtues. One of the most thought-provoking lines of the book, for me anyway, is the following:
“It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality, our best work is done by keeping things out.”
Screwtape is telling his nephew demon that humans, really, are impacted more by what is kept from our thoughts than by what is pushed in. Hmm.. interesting. It makes me reflect on what is being kept from my mind. Am I reading the Bible, listening to God’s voice and small nudges, trying to be aware and appreciative of all the many blessings surrounding me? Sure, best I can anyway. So what is being kept out? Truths about God, truths about the state of this world, thoughts that better reflect the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)? Probably. Definitely.
Like I mentioned above, I imagine the mind as a cup. God is continually pouring His fresh, pure, life-giving water into my cup. Satan can mess with that in a few ways. He can bump my cup, rattle my mind, in a way which lets some of that water spill out and leave my thoughts. He can also tamper with the water, add something else to the cup that changes its contents entirely just with a few devious drops. Or, he can block my cup from the flow of God’s water, he can put obstacles in my way of thinking which prevent the water from even reaching my cup in the first place, from ever reaching my conscious thought.
In Matthew 13:14-15, Jesus speaks of Isaiah’s prophesy, being fulfilled through his telling of parables. He quotes, “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.”
I want to hear and see and listen to all that God has for me. Not just the good or happy stuff, either. I want Him to reveal to me the hard stuff, things about my blind spots and how I can be a better instrument for His kingdom. I want to have the heart to know, the ears to hear, and the eyes to see all of what the Lord is trying to tell me today. I need to be praying for an increasing awareness of myself and of Him.
What is Satan working to bump out of your cup? Has he tampered with its contents? Or has he been working to keep something out of your cup entirely? All we can do is pray for the Lord to open our eyes to these things, to gain understanding, to become wise to Satan’s schemes and resist temptation. God has so much goodness to pour in – do we want to lose it? Do we really want anything else? Do we want to miss any of what He has to offer?
Just my thoughts for today.
Matthew 13:16-17, HLC
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