Problems or Possibilities – John 9

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” — John 9:3  

Year ago, a young couple was so excited. They had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy! How blessed they felt. As the days passed, they began to feel a certain uneasiness about his eyes. After consulting some doctors, their fears were confirmed – their beautiful son was blind!

They loved their son, but this greatly worried them. They were struggling to make ends meet themselves. They knew that their son would probably end up begging to survive. As he grew older, that’s what happened. With no other options, he was forced to go out each day and depend on the charity of others.

Eventually, he became quite well known in the area. Some felt sorry for him, others simply ignored him. But one day, Jesus and his disciples passed by. The disciples asked about his blindness. They assumed, like most religious people of the day, that he was blind due to some sin, either on his part or his parents. Then Jesus revealed what was really going on and why this had all happened. He explained that his blindness was so “that the works of God should be made manifest in him!”

Everything that happened to him, his parents, all the years of struggling and questioning, was all about creating an opportunity for God to do wonderful works that would glorify Him. Jesus used the need and the healing of this man to reveal His glory, to rebuke the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders, and to illustrate that He is the “light of the world” (9:5).

As we think about our lives, the struggles, the circumstances, the challenges, and the heartbreaks, we can choose to see them as either a curse or an opportunity. Everything that happens to us in this fallen world can be an opportunity for the power and glory of God to be seen. Just like this blind man, God may have allowed something in your life just to show His glory. So how do you view your problems? As curses? As obstacles? Or as opportunities? Give them to God and watch Him get glory through them!

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