They refuse to see

"'The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts— so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.'" John 12:40 NLT

In an article published Tuesday titled, "A sprint for the record book: Reno runner sets Guinness World Record in Black Rock Desert,” it was said that Reno runner Megan Merenda logged over 1,100 miles in 2021, but come to the record books, only one of those miles mattered. Merenda set the Guinness World Record for the fastest recorded mile run by a blindfolded woman when she ran a 7:19:63 mile at the Black Rock Desert in November. She received official notification earlier this month that her record had been finalized. “As soon as I started running, it was like ‘OK, I’m going to do this and it’s going to be good.’ And I felt good the whole time,” Merenda said of her record-breaking run. “When I crossed the finish line, I was just blown away and over-the-moon happy.” An avid runner for more than a decade, Merenda, 43, her sister and a friend concocted the idea for running blindfolded while on a spring 2021 trip to the Black Rock. After logging a respectable 10:15, Merenda looked up the world record and saw she was only two minutes off. She knew she could beat it. She spent months running in the dark to train and researching what she needed to do to satisfy Guinness.

And you know, when it comes to walking or running in the dark, the Bible tells us that most of the people in Jesus' day, even after He had performed many signs in their presence, would not believe in Him. And because of that the Lord blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts— so that their eyes could not see, and their hearts could not understand. In fact, their hearts became so hardened by their unbelief that it prevented them from being able to turn to Jesus and be healed. Likewise, many people in our world today will not believe in God despite all that He has done and have resisted Him to the point where their hearts are so hardened that they cannot ever accept Him or even acknowledge His existence. 

So don't be discouraged or surprised if your witness for Christ doesn't have people flocking to the foot of the Cross or winning you popularity contests my friend. Our job is to continue preaching the Gospel in a way that is loving and kind despite the pushback we will receive. And while you and I are responsible for reaching out to others, they are responsible for their decisions. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that people today are no different than the people in Jesus' day. No matter how strong the evidence presented to them that You are real, they will refuse to believe it out of pride or an unwillingness to change their behavior. Lord, please give us the skin of a rhino and the heart of a dove that we might preach with all compassion but be resilient when we are rejected, ridiculed or even persecuted for our faith. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!