Blinded By The Grind
Be like Natsume, not like Balaam
Happy Friday, my fellow anime lovers!
Today I want to share one of my favorite Bible stories—a tale from scripture that I actually revisited while I was in Japan. At the time, I was watching Natsume’s Book of Friends, and it got me thinking about how often we walk through life with blinders on, focused entirely on our own to-do lists and destinations.
The Bible story follows a man named Balaam who was doing exactly that (Numbers 22:22-35). He was a prophet who was acting as an adversary to God’s plan, so God sent an angel to stop him in his tracks:
“And the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the road.”
~ Numbers 22:23 (ESV)
Two more times the donkey turned away to save her rider, and two more times Balaam struck her with his staff. Finally, the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth to chastise him! Only then did the Lord open Balaam’s eyes to see the angel, who told him:
“The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.”
~ Numbers 22:33 (ESV)
In Natsume’s Book of Friends, Natsume serves as a perfect parallel to that donkey. He sees spiritual beings that everyone else is blind to, and he is often reprimanded or judged for acting on what he sees. His family and classmates are like Balaam—blind to the reality right in front of them, assuming Natsume is just being difficult.
But be honest: Do you view the world more like Natsume or like Balaam? Are your eyes open to the spiritual battles around you?
We are often most blind when we’re in the grind of everyday life. Facing daily inconveniences in our lives— delays, closed doors, changes in plans—can feel like worldly obstacles when they might just be God’s way of protecting us. God wants us to seek Him and recognize His hand in everything happening around us. Even the greatest prophets and the disciples closest to Jesus needed help opening their eyes to see the full picture.
Weekly Mission: This week, when you face an inconvenience or see something you may think odd, stop and pray. Ask God to show you if He is moving in that moment.
Memory Verse: “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” ~ Matthew 13:16-17
BtT in Review
Gaheret dropped the second part of his series on The Elusive Samurai—this time encouraging us to be like Kojirou and Ayako, faithful retainers to their lord.
In the newest episode of The Power of God and Anime Podcast, Mike looks to Naruto Uzumaki as a character who lives out what he believes, and challenges us to do the same! Here’s a snippet from the episode:
Head to our website to listen to the whole episode and vote on the anime poll. You can also listen on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music!
Old swordmasters, physics-bending “vanits,” traitorous hero’s party members, and semi-homemade dishes were on the menu in this week’s Reader’s Corner, as we once again covered the latest light novels, manga, and manhwa releases!
Fate/strange Fake was one of last season’s most acclaimed anime. We posted fanart illustration of Ayaka and Richard from the series last week, as well as a textured painting of Miku and Teto eating ice cream. And to celebrate Star Wars Day, we dropped another image of Miku and Teto—this one not quite as joyous.
Lots of romance is happening this season in anime offerings—check our Instagram account for screencaps from series that make you go squeee!!!
Have a wonderful weekend, friends!