The Wool Over My Eyes

We’ve all heard the expression “pulling the wool over your eyes.” It’s trickery. It’s like being duped in the presence of someone watching you be fooled. We can’t see the wool that’s right before us because it’s too close.

Have you ever experienced the wool being pulled over your eyes? If you’re like me, it left a nasty three-day-old-morning-breath taste in my mouth and stench in the air. So bad, I could smell it with my mouth closed. One I’d prefer not to have to taste or inhale again. When you’re no longer blind by the wool being pulled over your eyes, you have to keep trudging forward. Even with the bittersweet aftertaste of betrayal lingering.

If you don’t, it’s possible you’ll get stuck in the mud of regret or worse making a vow to yourself, you swear to not trust another soul. You declare, in your heart, not one thread of wool will scratch your eyeballs again—so you withdraw.

The walls go up and you build an invisible fortress around yourself. Only to isolate and live in suspicion of the words from others. You are suspicious because of the lies spoken to you were a sting of deception. The words deceived you. Making you believe something that wasn’t true. It hurts to be tricked as if it was an okay thing to do to you. No one can feel the pain how you do because it happened to the essence of who you are. Everyone is unique and responds different to untruth.

If there’s a slight chance someone is about to tiptoe across the boundary you’ve set up, you stack up another brick. Before they get closer, you shut them down. You’re willing to withdraw from the relationship because the cost is too great to risk the hurt. Suspicion causes you to abort new adventures to avoid being blindsided—again. Right?

Let me encourage you to take the bricks down from your fortress, one brick at a time. The gated community is symbolic to guarding your heart. You’re able to control who gets into your heart. It is a better option so life can flow to and from you. In the gated community access has to be granted. You allow who gets into the community, the flow of your life. This will allow you to engage people who respect your values. It’s biblical. God says to guard our hearts, because the issue of life flow from it (Proverbs 4:23). We control what we let in our gated community—our heart.

Instead of twirling the question of how did this happen?  Let’s learn from the wool ordeal by breaking it down.

What did you dismiss last time? The person showed you a tiny clue, but you dismissed it. A morsel was tucked into your mind for you to see it. How come you didn’t look at it?  Afraid it might be true? It could have been your warning the person had wool in their hands.

Was there an undercurrent? You know the feeling you get when something’s just not right. This is the main indicator for me. I’ve learned to slow my roll when I get this alarm. There’s no need to develop or move forward with anyone until the undercurrent is revealed. There’s something. You feel it for a reason.

Pray, ask God to show you. Lord, what is this? If you trust him, He’ll give you insight. And when he does, be ready to adjust accordingly.

Speaking up a problem? Welp, the “I’m not going to say anything” is over. You have to say something if it’s robbing you of your peace. Pray. We’re not picking fights; we’re keeping the peace. You may have to ask, what did you mean by that? Speak up. What did you mean by this? Why doesn’t this sit right with me? Speak the truth. God wouldn’t have it any other way.

No longer accepting excuses from people because “that’s just how little Sally is” or “they’ve been doing that for years.” That’s the problem. They’ve been trampling over people with deception for years. The lessons are blessings, “the wool over your eyes play” stops with you.

Recently, I implemented the undercurrent principle, when the “wool” peeked into my life. This time I was quick to pray and inquire of God. Lord, is there something with this? What am I missing here? After the prayer, the undercurrent remained in my spirit. No peace.

I positioned myself to abort anything I had set into motion with the person. I prayed again because my disrupted peace was a high price to pay. God nudged me to put the brakes on any interaction with the person. Taking a step back, immediately my peace was restored. See, I was about to make a right business decision, with the wrong person. It would have been disastrous if I had proceeded, ignoring my inner turmoil. Because it was fifty percent good, and I need it to be hundred percent God.

Trusting God is key for direction.

Wool is scratchy, if not treated. And thick enough to blind us. But if we implement the three gauges – stop dismissing, the undercurrent, speaking up – we will come out better for it. It might cost us. But if it was set out to rob us of peace, was it worth the time? If it’s not ordained, move along in God, He knows the better way.

Unapologetically TruU,

Sonya