Going Blind | Pastor Corbin Kill | Sunday, January 25th, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Choosing God’s Timing Over Our Own Solutions

It is easy to feel the pressure of mounting circumstances and believe that taking matters into your own hands is the only way forward. Like a king watching his army scatter, you might feel compelled to act before the appointed time because waiting feels impractical or costly. However, self-reliance often sounds reasonable only when obedience feels uncomfortable or inconvenient. True faith requires you to trust the process God has established, even when logic suggests a quicker path. When you rely on your own understanding, you risk training yourself to see God’s Word as an option rather than your source of life. [46:20]

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 1 Samuel 13:13-14 (ESV)

Reflection: When you face a situation where God seems delayed, what specific action are you tempted to rush into rather than waiting for His clear direction?

Day 2: Why Partial Obedience Is Actually Complete Disobedience

Spiritual vision begins to dim when you start picking and choosing which parts of God’s commands to follow. You might obey ninety-five percent of what is asked but leave a small area of compromise, convincing yourself that your efforts are still pleasing to the Lord. This selective obedience creates a distorted perception where you feel faithful while slowly drifting away from the truth. Over time, you may find yourself justifying what Scripture confronts and softening the warnings meant for your protection. Realizing that partial obedience is actually disobedience is the first step toward restoring your spiritual clarity. [55:11]

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (ESV)

Reflection: Is there a specific command or conviction you have been "softening" or explaining away lately to make it fit more comfortably into your current lifestyle?

Day 3: Prioritizing God’s Approval Over the Opinions of Others

The desire to fit in or maintain a certain image can often drown out the quiet voice of conviction in your heart. When the expectations of friends, family, or society matter more than the instructions of the Lord, your spiritual orientation begins to shift. You may find yourself participating in things that no longer feel right just to avoid being ostracized or labeled. This struggle for self-preservation and control makes it difficult to see the blessings God has placed right in front of you. Choosing to honor God’s voice above the crowd is the only way to maintain a clear and steady path. [57:27]

Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” 1 Samuel 15:24 (ESV)

Reflection: In which of your current relationships do you feel the most pressure to compromise your convictions, and how might God be inviting you to stand firm this week?

Day 4: Finding Repentance and Clarity in the Quiet Seasons

When it feels as though the heavens are silent and God is distant, the natural impulse is often to search for alternative sources of guidance. Instead of seeking substitutions or shortcuts, these quiet seasons are an invitation to look inward and examine the state of your soul. Silence is often God’s way of providing space for you to align your life with His Word and return to a place of sincere repentance. Rather than growing desperate or turning to your own resources, use the stillness to ask if there is any hidden area that needs to be surrendered. Clarity returns not through frantic searching, but through a humble heart that is willing to listen again. [01:04:21]

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek out for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” And his servants said to him, “Behold, there is a medium at En-dor.” 1 Samuel 28:6-7 (ESV)

Reflection: When you sense a lack of spiritual direction from God, what is one specific area of your life you could bring to Him in honest self-examination today?

Day 5: Guarding Your Heart Against the Slow Fade of Vision

Spiritual blindness rarely happens overnight; it is a gradual process of adjusting to small compromises until clarity is completely gone. You may still know the songs, the language, and the rhythms of faith while your heart slowly loses its sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. It is dangerous to learn how to function without clarity, relying on familiar paths rather than a fresh connection with the Lord. Do not let familiarity with the Scriptures replace a life that is actively submitted to the Word of God. By addressing the early signs of spiritual drift, you can protect your vision and stay aligned with the Master’s plan. [01:10:18]

And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.” 1 Samuel 15:17 (ESV)

Reflection: Looking back at your spiritual habits over the last month, what is one "small" adjustment or compromise you’ve made that you feel prompted to correct this week?

Sermon Summary

Saul’s story in 1 Samuel becomes a warning about how a once-seeing soul can drift into spiritual blindness. Over time small compromises and practical decisions replaced wholehearted obedience; what began as sensible adjustments—offering a sacrifice without the priest, sparing the best livestock, fearing public opinion—became a pattern that dulled discernment. The result was not an abrupt fall but a slow erosion: conviction lost its bite, Scripture grew familiar without authority, and God’s silence that should have driven Saul to repentance instead drove him to substitutes. Seeking guidance from a witch at Endor exposed the final symptom of that drift—desperation in the place where humility and confession should have been.

The claim that God is silent often masks an unwillingness to examine personal sin, to wait on God’s timing, or to relinquish control. When obedience is treated as optional and Scripture is curated to fit comfort, partial compliance becomes complete disobedience; the faithful outward forms remain while the inner life decays. Responsibility-shifting and people-pleasing hijack the conscience, making image and survival the new rulers. The true remedy offered is a return to sober self-examination, a recovery of obedience that values listening over rationalizing, and a reclamation of clarity through repentance.

God’s discipline is not arbitrary silence but an invitation to look inward—to let the pause reveal hidden areas needing confession and re-alignment. The pattern of spiritual sight lost and regained is simple: humility, repentance, and a restored priority on God’s Word restore vision; self-reliance, compromise, and fear of man rob it. The kingdom that was lost to Saul ultimately illustrates a deeper consequence than political power: a loss of spiritual orientation. The call is urgent yet hopeful—do not wait until silence forces a crisis; let the quiet expose the soul’s needs and choose obedience now.

Key Takeaways

1. Spiritual blindness creeps in slowly Spiritual sight rarely vanishes overnight; it dulls through small concessions that feel reasonable at the time. Each adjustment erodes the habit of listening to God until convictions become background noise and choices bend toward convenience. Guarding attention to Scripture and immediate repentance preserves clarity of sight. [70:18]
2. Obedience matters more than sacrifice Rituals and offerings cannot substitute for a heart aligned with God’s command. The text insists that doing what God says is more pleasing than the most elaborate devotion presented without true submission. Where obedience is selective, worship becomes a cover for disobedience, not its remedy. [51:06]
3. Self-reliance warps spiritual sight Taking control in moments of pressure trains the soul to trust one’s own judgment rather than God’s timing. What begins as pragmatic problem-solving morphs into a pattern of explaining away divine commands and blaming others for failure. The cure is deliberate humility: wait, confess, and obey rather than justify. [44:32]
4. Silence should prompt repentance God’s perceived silence should be treated as a call to examine the heart, not to seek unauthorized substitutes for guidance. Searching the Scriptures, increasing prayer, and repenting re-open the channels God uses to speak. Turning outward for answers only deepens the blindness. [62:10]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:28] - Weather, Power, and Prayer
[02:11] - Prayers for the Hurting
[04:07] - Praise and Presence
[31:44] - Reading: 1 Samuel 28
[33:39] - Saul Seeks a Witch
[35:52] - Theme Introduced: Going Blind
[37:45] - Impatience and Compromise
[42:52] - Self-Reliance Exposed
[51:06] - Obedience versus Sacrifice
[62:10] - What to Do When God Is Silent
[70:18] - How Spiritual Blindness Develops
[75:32] - Call to Repentance and Clarity
[78:55] - Closing Prayer

Sermon Clips

``What do you do when you feel as though god is silent in your life? Just asking you to think on that for a moment. When god seems like he's silent, when he's distant, when he's far away, What what do you do? Well, me, if I feel like god is silent because of his grace and mercy in my life, I begin to examine myself. Is there something in my life, some sin, some iniquity, some hidden danger inside of myself that's unrepentant that I need to come and repent of? Is there some area of my life that is not congruent with what god has called me to be and to do? Is there some part of my life that's not lined up with with god's word? It would cause me when I feel like god is silent. To want to spend more time praying and seeking his face. It would cause me to want to spend more time opening up his word and reading from this book that he has preserved for us because maybe maybe something from the pages of scripture will begin to speak to me in that flow of communication will open up again but Saul, [01:02:25] (81 seconds) #seekHisFace

Spiritual blindness doesn't become sudden, but it's gradual. It's not rebellion outright. It's just adjustment. And that's how Saul got to the place that we read about today. Because we don't wake up one morning having lost our spiritual vision. At first, it's subtle. Prayer feels a little bit shorter Scripture is is familiar to us but now it's it's not nearly a searching of our souls as it used to be. We used to feel strong conviction but now that conviction doesn't compel us to change. We just become a little uncomfortable and we shift and we shuffle a little bit and we deal with it and then move on into silence. [01:10:28] (54 seconds) #slowSpiritualDrift

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Going Blind | Pastor Corbin Kill | Sunday, January 25th, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Choosing God’s Timing Over Our Own Solutions

Day 2: Why Partial Obedience Is Actually Complete Disobedience

Day 3: Prioritizing God’s Approval Over the Opinions of Others

Day 4: Finding Repentance and Clarity in the Quiet Seasons

Day 5: Guarding Your Heart Against the Slow Fade of Vision

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

Going Blind | Pastor Corbin Kill | Sunday, January 25th, 2026

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