Blindsided

When you’ve been around the block more times than you can count you do learn a few things. If I had to cite the biggest chunk of knowledge I’ve added on is that our best lessons are gained in our worst episodes of life.

The key is recognizing the blessings in disguise, which then empowers us to endure.

As we are developing we can float along for periods of time in what I refer to as a ‘bubble of grace’ until, one day, WHAM! something bursts the protective layer and we are blindsided, startled and disoriented wondering what just happened. Sometimes we get a quick fix (grace) but more often than not it requires reordering our perspective. Sometimes it’s so fundamentally life altering we find ourselves in the five stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.

Sometimes it’s so disorienting we get stuck and linger in one of these stages because we don’t know now to move on. This is where we need more than physical strength, we need a reality that cannot be spoken to us by others, regardless how well-meaning they are.

One positive thing I can claim for having travelled through this life so many years, is my very hard-earned experiences, which is something of a conundrum that, like it or not, good can come from tough - if we know how to interpret the nuances.

Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

I fully understand that someone who is dealing with the worst possible crisis might not be able to receive such input. However, hindsight is a great God given tool for reviewing what our life lessons have taught us.

Here’s my short list that i have to pull out now and again:

1. It’s much wiser to prefer striving for good results over being determined to be RIGHT.

2. When we are blindsided we can feel all kinds of emotions - hurt, shock, disbelief, etc., but how we feel is never our best friend - whatever we discover to be true and how we are willing to allow it to refine us not break us is the key to overcoming and then being able to move forward which gives us greater purpose.

3. I care first and foremost what God thinks of me. If I’m operating in the middle of His will, I don’t have to fret if others don’t get me.

4. I have to be ever open to receiving what He wills and wants from me even if it’s not what I think I need or want.

5. If I can see backwards to recognize my blessings in disguise, I find my struggles become diluted in the middle of any current crisis. This is really where faith is tested and becomes perseverance that then becomes character, and ultimately hope - which carries us through the next test. In other words, it gets easier as your tests mount up.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Blindsided ©2025 Meema Fields

[verse]

funny what you take for granted

holding tight to status quo

you think roots are so deeply planted

you never fear the threat of storm or foe

you think your life is fixed forever

you carry on with trust misguided

then one day someone flips a lever

and you find you’ve been blindsided

[chorus]

blindsided blindsided

you didn’t hear a sound

one minute you are fully righted

and the next

you’re

upside down

[verse]

we always trust the ones we trust

and believe the way we feel

but being cautious minded is a must

in a world where fake is real

[bridge]

troubles come and troubles go

there’s no way out, no escape

live long enough and we find out

the toughest trial refines our shape

[chorus]

blindsided blindsided

you didn’t see it come

one minute you are fully righted

and the next

you’re feeling

really

dumb

But then we find the hardest lessons

come with unexpected gain

the secret is our best blessings

often come disguised as pain