HAS SATAN BLINDED YOU FROM ENJOYING GOD’S BLESSINGS?

SCRIPTURE:
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.  
(Psalm 119:18)

MEDITATION:
There are many who assume God’s rules and guidelines for humanity 
will jeopardize their happiness and destroy their joy.
Of course nothing could be further from the truth.
God’s boundaries are established not only to prevent man from 
destroying himself, but also to bring happiness and joy into his life.

The problem with not being able to see the benefits of God’s rules 
is that sin has blinded the eyes of man.
Take for example the Garden of Eden.
Eve failed to see all of the good things in her life 
and allowed the evil one to persuade her to focus on 
what she did not have (and was instructed to leave alone).

Think about how obsessed she became with the tree that was forbidden.
Adding fuel to the fire, Satan convinced her 
that God was withholding something very valuable from her.
Satan does that same thing to many of us, doesn’t he?

He distracts us from enjoying the many blessings God has given us, 
and uses our sinful nature to convince us that things outside 
of God’s boundaries will bring us joy and happiness.
How ludicrous to think that our Creator forgot some important things 
when He crafted His guidelines for providing contentment to mankind.
It’s absurd to believe that the Creator 
would not know what is needed by His creations.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to 
those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

The Psalmist ‘got it’.
He knew that God’s laws were meant for his good. 
As a result, he asked God to remove the blindness created by Satan 
to prevent him from seeing and understanding the benefits of God’s laws. 

In order for us to ‘get it’, 
we need to pause and appreciate the things God has given us.
We also need to read His Word and focus on His promises for mankind.
If we follow the thought processes of Eve, 
then we can expect to have similar consequences. 
She and Adam lost everything 
because they focused their attention on one thing.
Eve became so obsessed with something outside of God’s boundaries 
that she decided to exceed the limits He established for them.

ACTION:
Does joy and happiness seem to elude you?
Don’t blame God for the contentment you are lacking.
God created you with certain desires 
and He certainly knows how to fulfill those desires.
Instead of taking control and doing what you think is right, 
spend time getting closer to the Lord and learning to appreciate 
how you have been blessed.

Have you ever heard someone make a statement like, 
“I’m going to be happy no matter what it takes”?
That is an example of someone who has turned their back on God and His laws 
in order to pursue joy and happiness using their own ideas and guidelines.
This was a bad decision for Eve and it is a bad choice for anyone else.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for knowing me better than I know myself. You 
created me and You know what will bring me joy and happiness. Forgive me 
if I have allowed Satan to mislead me into believing there are other things 
outside of your blessings that will provide me with contentment. As the 
Psalmist asked, I pray that You will open my eyes so that I can see and 
fully enjoy Your blessings. Help me to read the Scriptures daily so that 
my eyes will be opened for me to see the glories of Your wondrous love. 
You know I want to be happy; I know I want to be happy; You know what will 
make me happy; help me to draw closer to You and have faith and trust 
in You to provide me with happiness. Keep me from ignoring Your guidelines 
and seeking happiness on my own. Close my ears to the voices from Satan 
that try to convince me that I am right when creating my own guidelines 
as I pursue happiness with disregard of Your laws.”