Lanterns and Blindfolds

A path winds through a forest so pitch black you could drown in it. Someone stands at the entrance frozen, afraid to move forward, but unable to turn back. In front of them lies a lantern and a blindfold. To your utter astonishment, the person foolishly takes the blindfold and binds it around their eyes. They begin to stumble about in the sinister and suffocating darkness, oblivious to their surroundings. You rush over to them saying "What are you doing? Why didn't you take the lantern?", but the person answers you "I don't need the lantern! I know what I'm doing! And I don't need you to tell me what to do!". So you stand there and watch as they stumble about some more, making no progress what so ever. They trip and fall over hidden objects. Puzzled you wonder why they didn't choose the lantern. You walk over and pick it up. On the underside is written in plain bold writing "Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in the darkness, the Lord will be my light." You pick up the lantern and look around you. Nailed to a tree is a small piece of paper, you go over and examine it. The paper is old and dirty, and looks as if it's been sitting unread for a very very long time. You brush off some of the dust, and manage to read "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." You hold up the lantern and look about you once more, you see the blindfolded person still stumbling about foolishly unable to understand why on earth they wouldn't want the help being offered them. There is no chance what so ever that they could succeed on their own without the lantern, but in their blindness, they fail to recognize that. Finally you decide you've had enough of this. You march over to the person and tear the blindfold from their face, and in your astonishment and horror, you realize...the face behind the blindfold is your own........ Why do we have so much trouble trusting God to be our light, to lead and guide us? Why do we choose to stumble about blindly, instead of submitting to Him and admitting that we DO need His help, and we DO need His guidance? Why do we stubbornly refuse the Light Of The World in exchange for darkness? We need to remove our blindfold and pick up our lantern, let Him be the Lamp unto your feet and the Light unto your path :)