There are things we know and things we
think we know. It is always interesting to see when things we think we know
turn out to not be true. Several times in my career I’ve had people quote, “God
helps those who help themselves,” as a passage of Scripture. They are convinced
that this is holy writ, but it is not. (I once asked where that “passage” was
found and the person gave the classic answer, “Somewhere in the back.” Good
times!) It can be a powerful learning experience to find that things that we
held true were false and then to see the truth as God reveals it.
The disciples had just such an
experience in regard to why bad things happen to people. They saw a man who had
been born blind, and they asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he
was born blind?” We ask questions like this too. What did the people of Haiti
do to deserve such an earthquake? Why were the people of Indonesia or Japan hit
with a tsunami? What’s going on in Moore, Oklahoma that they have been devastated
with tornadoes? In short, “Who sinned?”
Jesus’ answer is that the man’s
blindness was not about sin, but about revealing God’s glory. In this case
Jesus’ healing of the man led to all kinds of problems in the man’s life,
including getting him kicked out of the synagogue. But the man came to believe
in Jesus, and he worshiped Him. (That is a very significant sentence, because
Jesus accepts the worship showing that He is God.)
How would our lives change if we saw the
bad things that happen in this world as opportunities for the glory of God to
be revealed? Now, don’t hear what I’m not saying! I’m not saying we should
rejoice in evil. We should see evil for what it is: the consequence of living
in a broken world that is separated for its Creator. However, we are citizens
of the Kingdom of God, and we represent Jesus in this world proclaiming the
message of His cross which destroys sin and death. Hard times and evil days are
the moments that shining Jesus’ light in the world is seen most clearly.
Lovingly helping to clean up a community, collecting clothing for those who
have lost theirs, delivering water to the thirsty, and providing relief for the
broken are all ways that we share God’s love in Jesus’ name. And as we do so,
hopefully someone will ask, “Why?” And you can say, “Because Jesus loves you,
and so do I. To Him be the glory!”
Lord, let me see the pain in life as the
place to shine your light. Amen.
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