The Death Hogs Darkness

So, the other day I was working on my bush hog, which I now call the “death hog” because it nearly killed me. I was working on it for quite a while, and all I wanted to do was put new blades on it. But I bought it from someone who must’ve never put new blades on because everything was rusted shut and stuck together. It was a nightmare trying to take it apart. I spent hours on this thing, breaking hammers, chisels, punches, and even a couple of wrenches in the process. I was pretty much fed up with it.

I eventually managed to cut off everything I needed to, but I still had to get the bolts out of the holes. So, I rigged up a little jig to put over the bolt to keep it in place. I used a hard bolt with a washer on it that I could slide into the jig, allowing me to hit the other bolts out. This worked fantastically, and I was able to knock four bolts out, leaving only two to go. These last two bolts were very stubborn—they were rusted shut. I had soaked them in WD-40 a couple of days before and again that morning, but they still wouldn’t budge.

Determined, I decided to give it everything I had, hitting the bolts as hard as possible. I swung the sledgehammer so hard that my feet came off the ground, but the bolts still didn’t want to move. After a perfect hit, the bolt moved just a hair, so I knew I was close to figuring it out. However, the jig I had made started to bend, so the bolt wasn’t perfectly straight anymore. I knew the best solution was to make another jig real quick, but I had just been invited on a dove hunt and was itching to shoot my gun since I hadn’t fired it in quite a while. It was time to blast something, so I thought, “I’ll skip making a new jig. It will take too much time. I’ll just knock these last two bolts out and then go dove hunting. When I get back, I’ll put the bush hog together.”

I put the bolt back in and swung. Just my luck, I hit the backside of the bolt hard enough that it flew out of the jig right into my cheek. The washer then jumped up and caught my eyelid. This wasn’t just a little bounce—it hit hard enough to bounce off my face and hit the side of the shed. Thankfully, my eyes are very sensitive, so they closed automatically. I remember seeing the bolt coming at my face and trying to duck, but it all happened so fast. I told my wife I should have jumped instead of ducking, lol.

I grabbed my eye because, at first, I thought I had lost it. Blood was squirting out of my face and eye. My wife came running over to help, and I noticed she had blood all over her arm. I caught sight of her with my left eye and said, “Why do you have blood all over you?” not realizing it was all mine, lol.

Long story short, my wife was absolutely amazing. She got me cleaned up and put ice on my eye right away to reduce the swelling. I don’t know what I would do without her! But all that being said, if that bolt had hit just a half-inch higher—maybe not even that—I would have lost my eye. And this was my good eye! That would have been devastating. But God was looking out for me; He had His hand of protection on me. Even though the bolt hit me hard enough to knock me to my knees, it couldn’t have been a better situation. The alignment was perfect—it didn’t break my nose or my eye socket.

It’s amazing when you look at the positive side of things how awesome life can be. I wasn’t ready for that to happen that day, and I would have preferred it didn’t happen at all. But even in that moment, God was looking out for me, and that’s just amazing!

This really got me thinking. I started dictating this article because I couldn’t see out of my right eye at the moment, and I was very sensitive to light. We had blackout curtains covering the windows, and I was in the dark. Yet somehow, my right eye still perceived light. I told my wife we needed to turn off the lights, but she had already done that. Even though I couldn’t see anything, it felt like light was still shining into my eye, or at least giving me the illusion of it.

I have a friend I always make fun of because he has only one eye, but truthfully, it’s no joke. Eyes are very important, very sensitive, and they essentially rule your body. If you can’t see, your senses are thrown off. I was trying to get into the bathtub to soak, and I tripped over it and almost broke my toe because with only my bad eye working, I had no depth perception whatsoever.

With both eyes closed, which was the easiest way to cope with the pain, I had another problem. I can’t open one eye without the other, and it drives me crazy if one is hurt because it’s hard for me to open just one. So, I just closed them both and rolled with it. When your eyes are closed, it’s dark, and you feel like you’re going to trip over something at all times. But with that lingering light in my eye, it reminded me of the scripture:

“But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” (Matthew 6:23)

This was a literal case of this: the light I thought I had was actually darkness, and that darkness was thick. Experiencing this made me think about the world we live in. People are walking around full of religion. There’s another word I’d like to use, but I shouldn’t in this article. People think they’re good to go because they follow the rules of their church, their ancestors, or their leader. This happens in any Christian denomination or even non-Christian organizations—they all do the same thing. They follow man-made rules and traditions, believing they’re right and will be rewarded in heaven.

What they don’t realize is the light they think they have is actually darkness. Religion is from the devil. The devil started religion when he said, “I am more powerful than God, and I want people to worship me.” And so began the trail of religion. God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. That was a personal, day-to-day relationship, and that’s all He wants with us. He wants us to come to Him no matter what’s going on—whether we’re having a problem or a wonderful day we want to share. He is always there, waiting for us, wanting a personal connection.

The Bible says He has made a place for us that no human mind can understand or describe, where we will spend eternity if we are born again—if we turn from our own ways, from our religion, from our darkness, and focus on His light, trusting Jesus to carry us through. (1 Cor: 2:9)

He wants this deep, personal relationship with us. Scripture compares His relationship with us to a marriage, and marriage is personal. If you’re married to a thousand women like Solomon, it’s impossible to have a true personal relationship with each one. You’d end up favoring one or another. You can’t have a personal relationship with a group. If you tried to have an intimate relationship with a group, it’s called an orgy! That’s not what the Bible describes. The Bible tells us to go into a closet, shut the door, and pray to the Father in secret. Jesus is our advocate, so we can pray directly to the Father, the Creator of the universe. He wants a deep relationship with us through His Son. That’s why He sent Jesus, born of a virgin, to carry our sins and experience every temptation and struggle humans go through. He died a criminal’s death on the cross, though He never broke a single commandment, and gave His life as a ransom for us all. All He asks is that we follow Him.

But somehow, we create divisions. We create denominations and our versions of the truth, asking people to follow them. How dumb can we be?

In Jesus’ words: The light you think you have is actually darkness!

Why are we so focused on our own problems instead of focusing on Jesus and letting Him take them? We fight against ourselves every single day when there’s no need to. It’s absurd because Jesus said if we know the truth, the truth will set us free. So, let’s seek the truth and stop living a lie. Let’s search for light so we don’t have to live in darkness.

I know I went down a rabbit trail there, but it’s just what I was thinking about as I tried to recover and regain my sight. It reminded me of another verse: “I once was blind, but now I see.” How amazing is it that God gave sight to the blind? He healed so many people and did so many miracles, yet we often don’t go to Him for our everyday problems. Absolutely incredible.

I want to say that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6) Forget about your traditions, your rules and regulations, and what you think church or Christianity should be. Forget what you’ve been taught, and read your Bible from start to finish. Follow Jesus today!

I struggled with this for a long time. I was caught up in religion for years, bound by what I was taught, believing what people told me. It’s such a big trap to be in, and it’s a dangerous game to play. You can ask Jesus into your heart and still fight against Him by following the ways of the world instead. Trust me, I’ve been there. I’m not trying to condemn anyone or point fingers. All I want to do is tell people the truth. But it’s a marvelous thing to be born again. Jesus said if you are born again, you can see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3) Once you see the kingdom, nothing else matters. You know it’s all about Jesus, and He’s got your back. He will carry you all the way through eternity.

Rain or shine, light or dark, eyes or no eyes—Jesus is the one and only Lord and Savior. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is in charge today and forevermore. So stop worrying about your everyday life and start looking up because Jesus said our redemption is drawing near!

So, the next time you see me and I’ve got a scar on my face, you’ll know what happened and what I was thinking about while it was healing. I’m going to be just fine because Jesus is holding me in His arms, saying, “I love you this much!”

Until next time, and from now on, may the good Lord bless each and every one of you!

~ Joe Lester ~