In the old days, it was believed
that physical maladies were symptom of sin. If you had
a chronic illness, or were missing a limb, or were
paralyzed, deaf, mute, blind or mentally challenged,
this was because you, or someone related to you, had
angered God. In this passage from John, Jesus and his
crew have just encountered a blind man, and they assumed
that the man had it coming, asking, "Rabbi, who sinned,
this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus
answered them with the quote which began this e-votional.
It must have been a tough world that in those days any
problems were simply assumed to be signs of God's
disfavor.
But things haven't changed that
much. While we rarely hear these sorts of things from
others, most of us have no problem making the leap in
our own heads that, when things go south, it is a sign
that God is punishing us. And this, as Jesus said, is
not true. God does not use bad things to punish us,
rather God occasionally uses those things to reveal His
glory. Sometimes God is glorified through something
miraculous, as was the case with this blind man, but
other times, God is glorified as we respond to the
challenges in our own lives. When times get tough and
we, as Jesus' disciples, are able to face them with
love, grace, peace and dignity, then God is glorified.
When we see others who are suffering and we respond with
compassion, God is glorified. Suffering is a symptom of
this fallen and broken world, it does not come from God,
but suffering always carries with it the opportunity for
our faith to make itself more manifest, not less, in our
lives and in the lives of others. Tragedy, suffering,
sorry and disappointment are never good things, but in
and through God, good can come from them.
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Prayer: Holy God, help me to find you in the midst of my
worries and sorrows. Help me to feel your presence and to respond
with love and faith. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[Phil Blackburn, First Presbyterian Church]
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