Receiving Spiritual Sight
As we are forced to step back from our lives due to Coronavirus and social distancing, other problems may arise or surface, or difficulties that we had had before may be complicated, causing us uneasiness or anxiety or forcing us to deal with feelings and situations we'd prefer not to deal with.
Whether the Coronavirus or another problem, any time we're thrust into a difficult situation or have a trial put in our hands, we may wonder why or wish for it to just go away and for life to return to normal. In turning to God, we may ask that of Him: "Lord, please fix this. Please take it away." There are times, however, that a trial is necessary or beneficial.
We read in this last Sunday's Gospel a story about a grown man who had been blind since birth, sitting and begging for money and food. We don't know how old this man was nor how long he had been begging. We don't know how often He had wished he could see, wished that this blindness would be taken away from him. We don't know how he had suffered for so many years nor the extent of the difficulties his blindness had caused him, but we can be assured that he had suffered. And why? Why does God allow His people to suffer? Why does He allow difficulty and hardships? Jesus gives one critical answer that is good for us to hear as well, in this current situation and in all situations in which we find ourselves: "...he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him" (John 9:3, RSV)
In other words, the purpose of his blindness was that God's glory may be revealed through it. One way in which God's glory and works were revealed was quite obvious, at least on the surface, in this case. The man was healed. He could see. Jesus had performed a miracle. God's glory was revealed in the miracle. Yet, in enough cases, Jesus had asked that the person healed tell no one about the healing or about Himself, and it is very possible Jesus had requested the same from this man. A public awareness and acknowledgement of a miracle was not the glory Jesus had meant.
The revelation was something deeper. It is both clearly and symbolically shown in this man receiving his sight. Jesus, in many places, equates blindness with ignorance of the ways of God and sight with an understanding given by God and a spiritual encounter with Him, seeing the world and life in light of it. Jesus says here again, "I am the light of the world" (John 9:5). He is the One who gives light and therefore, spiritually, who gives sight.
After the man had been driven out of the temple, Jesus found him and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man. The man who had been blind asked Jesus, "Who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." I love Jesus' answer: "You have seen him..." The man immediately worshiped Jesus, having recognized him (John 9:35-38). You have seen him. Obviously, this man had seen Jesus with the very eyes that Jesus had opened, but to also understand that Jesus was not only a prophet but was God took eyes of faith as well.
It is likely that the blindness this man had experienced had prepared Him to recognize God. This trial and disability that had persisted and caused great difficulty for this man for his entire life had prepared him to recognize the works of the Lord, not only as a healing but also as a revelation of God's glory and of His presence. It had readied his heart to worship.
Nine years ago, when I began suffering with constant, severe anxiety and insomnia, with a pounding heart and with claustrophobia and hallucinations, I begged God to heal me, to take it all away. Fixing the problem would have revealed God's power, but what He did instead revealed His glory in a deeper and more profound way. What He did instead opened my spiritual eyes and changed me.
Over the course of that time, I suffered, I turned to God, and I encountered Him. Something changed during that first year of this chronic, suffocating anxiety and insomnia. It wasn't overnight nor anything dramatic. It took place during the day-in and day-out moving through the suffering and living my life while learning to lean on God. Over the course of that first year, my outlook on life changed drastically, and it continues to change. I began to see my anxiety and insomnia as a gift. This began a process of great growth and healing and has formed the foundation on which I now strive to live.
While we want our problems to be fixed and our troubles to be eased, often that is not what is in our best interest. Fixing our problems is not the same as healing. God wants true, deep healing for us. He wants us to live genuine trust, love, forgiveness, and humility. He wants to heal broken relationships and broken trust, impatience, pride, and self-reliance. Suffering often reveals issues we may not have noticed or may have been able to ignore before. Sometimes we need to move, with God, through that suffering in order to be truly healed. True healing ultimately has as its basis and foundation God Himself and a confident, intimate relationship with Him - itself a gift of moving through trials if we turn to Him.
Like the blind man, our living in suffering helps us to learn to recognize God and to see Him with eyes of faith so that, each time we encounter Him, we know Him, and our hearts are lifted to His.
Whether the Coronavirus or another problem, any time we're thrust into a difficult situation or have a trial put in our hands, we may wonder why or wish for it to just go away and for life to return to normal. In turning to God, we may ask that of Him: "Lord, please fix this. Please take it away." There are times, however, that a trial is necessary or beneficial.
We read in this last Sunday's Gospel a story about a grown man who had been blind since birth, sitting and begging for money and food. We don't know how old this man was nor how long he had been begging. We don't know how often He had wished he could see, wished that this blindness would be taken away from him. We don't know how he had suffered for so many years nor the extent of the difficulties his blindness had caused him, but we can be assured that he had suffered. And why? Why does God allow His people to suffer? Why does He allow difficulty and hardships? Jesus gives one critical answer that is good for us to hear as well, in this current situation and in all situations in which we find ourselves: "...he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him" (John 9:3, RSV)
In other words, the purpose of his blindness was that God's glory may be revealed through it. One way in which God's glory and works were revealed was quite obvious, at least on the surface, in this case. The man was healed. He could see. Jesus had performed a miracle. God's glory was revealed in the miracle. Yet, in enough cases, Jesus had asked that the person healed tell no one about the healing or about Himself, and it is very possible Jesus had requested the same from this man. A public awareness and acknowledgement of a miracle was not the glory Jesus had meant.
The revelation was something deeper. It is both clearly and symbolically shown in this man receiving his sight. Jesus, in many places, equates blindness with ignorance of the ways of God and sight with an understanding given by God and a spiritual encounter with Him, seeing the world and life in light of it. Jesus says here again, "I am the light of the world" (John 9:5). He is the One who gives light and therefore, spiritually, who gives sight.
After the man had been driven out of the temple, Jesus found him and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man. The man who had been blind asked Jesus, "Who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." I love Jesus' answer: "You have seen him..." The man immediately worshiped Jesus, having recognized him (John 9:35-38). You have seen him. Obviously, this man had seen Jesus with the very eyes that Jesus had opened, but to also understand that Jesus was not only a prophet but was God took eyes of faith as well.
It is likely that the blindness this man had experienced had prepared Him to recognize God. This trial and disability that had persisted and caused great difficulty for this man for his entire life had prepared him to recognize the works of the Lord, not only as a healing but also as a revelation of God's glory and of His presence. It had readied his heart to worship.
Nine years ago, when I began suffering with constant, severe anxiety and insomnia, with a pounding heart and with claustrophobia and hallucinations, I begged God to heal me, to take it all away. Fixing the problem would have revealed God's power, but what He did instead revealed His glory in a deeper and more profound way. What He did instead opened my spiritual eyes and changed me.
Over the course of that time, I suffered, I turned to God, and I encountered Him. Something changed during that first year of this chronic, suffocating anxiety and insomnia. It wasn't overnight nor anything dramatic. It took place during the day-in and day-out moving through the suffering and living my life while learning to lean on God. Over the course of that first year, my outlook on life changed drastically, and it continues to change. I began to see my anxiety and insomnia as a gift. This began a process of great growth and healing and has formed the foundation on which I now strive to live.
While we want our problems to be fixed and our troubles to be eased, often that is not what is in our best interest. Fixing our problems is not the same as healing. God wants true, deep healing for us. He wants us to live genuine trust, love, forgiveness, and humility. He wants to heal broken relationships and broken trust, impatience, pride, and self-reliance. Suffering often reveals issues we may not have noticed or may have been able to ignore before. Sometimes we need to move, with God, through that suffering in order to be truly healed. True healing ultimately has as its basis and foundation God Himself and a confident, intimate relationship with Him - itself a gift of moving through trials if we turn to Him.
Like the blind man, our living in suffering helps us to learn to recognize God and to see Him with eyes of faith so that, each time we encounter Him, we know Him, and our hearts are lifted to His.
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