Stephen Smith

James Shupp asks in his book One Blinding Vision--The Quest to See Jesus, “At this moment, if someone listened to your beating heart, whose heart would they hear?” Would they hear your chest pumping for Christ, or for some other? Would your thoughts reflect the mind of the King, or your daily struggle for meaning? Could someone track your eyesight to a vision of the risen God of Glory, or to the latest, greatest of gadgets? James invites us along as he recounts his quest for answers to these questions in his own life. His “twenty plus years” in pastoring churches led James on this “deepest, most painful crisis of the soul” where he came face-to-face with the reality of his own “brokenness” and the realization that he was helpless to relieve that suffering. “People usually don’t make changes until they receive enough that they are able to change, learn enough that they want to change, or hurt enough that they have to change.” James fell into the latter category. Pain drove his change. And fortunately for readers, that pain gave way to a blinding vision of “delivering people, multiplying disciples, and building bridges.” This is the thesis of James’ book One Blinding Vision, and it is a good one, both the thesis and the book, because throughout the pages James draws heavily from his life to carefully reconstruct how God wove his pain into a marvelous tapestry of redemption from personal failures and private weaknesses. I can relate to failures and weakness, and maybe some others can, too. For I, like James, “struggle with confidence,” and, I am “painfully aware that to carry the vision (of Jesus) across the goal line, I must have the confidence to seize it (the vision) and start running.” For me, this is the great takeaway from One blinding Vision, and it is a powerful. Christians struggle. We each have a thorn protruding from the flesh. Followers of Jesus don masks hoping to cover inadequacy. But (in James’ words) “at the end of the day, I learned an incredible lesson in my Father’s house. Masks are not tolerated. Once you experience His indescribable love, you desire nothing less than to rip the mask from your face.” And throw it to the ground, squash it beneath your feet, and place the broken pieces at the foot of His cross. That’s when a miracle transformation occurs, pain becomes peace, slavery becomes salvation, worry becomes rest. True, the war goes on. “One hard-fought battle,” does not a total victory make. We may not have the end in hand, but, we have the end in sight, and that end is Jesus. We have Jesus and what a glorious image we have. We have the blinding vision we need and the knowledge that “failures are never final.” Jesus is final. He said so from the cross when He spoke, “It is finished.” The wait is over. The time has come The wait is over The King is here And His Name is Jesus HillSong United “Empires” Ultimately, One Blinding Vision--The Quest to See Jesus, is a book of encouragement and one I would highly recommend reading. Stephen Smith, Esq.