Born Blind

How does someone born blind know what sight is really like, having never seen? How does someone born deaf know what it is like to actually hear? They have never experienced it. We can describe it to them, but they will never truly know what ANY of these things are like until they become a reality in their own lives.

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing." - John 9:17

Nowhere in this story does it say that the man ASKED for his sight. Only that Jesus gave the man his sight. Interesting. That's because Jesus was demonstrating his healing power for OTHERS to "see."

"that the works of God might be displayed in him."

We are ALL born blind in a spiritual sense. Some people receive their spiritual sight at an early age. For others it takes decades. And sadly, there are many who will be blind their entire lives - never having encountered the risen Christ.

When we repent of our sins and come to a saving faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit enters us. As the Bible says, "we become changed" and "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Have we had our eyes opened by Jesus? The things we do and they way we live our lives are witnesses to God changing us. It is for His glory and through His grace that He has done this. Rejoice!

"One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” - the man born blind (John 9:25).

In His Eyes

An update on my eye surgery and how God works in the lives if those who love Him.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

After having lens replacement surgery on my right eye back in January, I emerged from it less that pleased with the results. You can read about it here.

When I told the surgeon about the problem I was having, the surgeon prescribed a series of eye drops, hoping to reduce the swelling at the back of my eye. They didn't work.

For my follow up visit I had a speech all prepared for exactly what I thought should happen next. Should he suggest more surgery, my answer would be, "No way! Not until this eye gets fixed first!"

So, I went in for my appointment a few weeks ago. I had prayed and was feeling quite sure about things. But how would the surgeon feel? Here's what he told me.

"Well, the eye drops didn't work. I think we should wait with any further surgery until your right eyes is better than your left eye. Let's check your vision and we'll give you a prescription for new lenses. Come back in a year and we'll reassess."

Wow! He stole my whole speech! That's exactly what I wanted!

Plus, I feel reassured that, through prayer and faith, that God really does work all things together for good. For those who love Him.

As I write this I have new lenses for my glasses. Things are a bit clearer and brighter. My vision is still a little blurry but that's okay. I'm satisfied for now. God is so good!

Also, I am really looking forward to getting that new glorified body that the Bible tells us about. All things will be made new - including my eyes!

"For we live by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:7

Blind Eyes

I had cataract surgery a few days ago. Basically, they cut into your eye, remove the original lens, and replace it with a new one. Sounds simple, right?

Wrong.

This was like REAL surgery! Lol! Hospital gown, IV in my wrist, anesthesiologist, operating room, the whole thing.

The actual procedure took five-ten minutes, but the prep time took an hour. My surgeon had 17 such surgeries Thursday morning. Then he met with each of us patients that same afternoon to see how we were doing.

So, is my vision all clear this morning? Nope. I can see but my vision is still a bit cloudy. That's normal I guess but I was hoping for some kind instantaneous restoration. Again . . . nope.

It reminds me of Jesus and His healing of the man born blind.

"He (Jesus) took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." - Mark 8:23-25

The interesting thing about the account we just read was that Jesus healed the man in two stages. With other similar healings of blindness in the Bible people could see immediately. So, why wasn't this man's healing the same?

It doesn't really say, but there is a hint a few verses earlier when read that it was "some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him." The blind man himself did not ask to be healed.

Perhaps by being partially healed at first the blind man himself then had faith in Jesus. He certainly had no hope before, but now he actually could see, although not clearly. But now the man himself believed in the healing power that Jesus had. And that's what Jesus was waiting for.

Elsewhere in the Bible we read of many other such healings of the blind and lame and we hear this from Jesus:

"Your faith has healed you."

The blind man was brought to Jesus because of THEIR faith, not his. Total restoration (the second time) was a result of the blind man's faith, not theirs.

I believe my eye surgeon when he says that the cloudiness in my eye will disappear in a few days. His testimony is based on thousands of other such surgeries that he has performed.

But my ultimate faith is in Jesus. My faith in Jesus is based on the total restorative surgery that He has already performed on my heart. Only through Him was I made able to clearly see.

Open Your Eyes

Okay. Are you ready for a vision test. Take a look at this picture and tell me what you see. The face of Jesus is to most obvious thing but take a closer look. Do you see people standing off to the left? To the right? Probably. But do you see Jesus riding on a donkey? Do you see the stone arch in the background creating a halo over the head of Jesus? Or is His hair actually the inside of the arch that the people are standing in?

In the Book of Mark, Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah saying, "‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” - Isaiah 6:9, Mark 4:12

We tend to see things based on our own personal experiences and through the lens of the things we have learned.

Currently we have several people running for the office of President of The United States. They all have eyes and they all can see but each of them sees things differently. The same can be said of our churches. That's why there are so many different denominations.

Everybody has heard of Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective. Sherlock gives us another example similar to Isaiah 6 from the book A Scandal in Bohemia. Speaking to Watson, Holmes says,

“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”

 “Frequently.”

 “How often?”

 “Well, some hundreds of times.”

 “Then how many are there?”

 “How many? I don't know.”

 “Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”

The other day my wife and I were at our grandson's birthday party. He's four years old already! We were preparing to pray before our meal that day and his mother said to him, "It's time to pray. Fold your hands."

He folded his hands, closed his eyes and bowed his head. One could easily see an obedient child but his actions also demonstrated a child who has been trained in the ways of The Lord. No one told him to bow his head or to close his eyes but someone clearly had told him to do that in the past. We can observe things about people simply by watching them.

I once asked someone at work how they were doing. "Fine," they said. But I observed in this persons eyes a different story so I asked again. That's when the tears began to flow. We then prayed together and now we are amazingly close friends, simply by observing . . . and acting.

As we live our lives, people will be watching US. What do THEY preserve about us? Will they think we are educated? Will they think we are nice? Caring" Giving? Will they think we are Christians simply by watching us?

Anybody can walk into a church. That's where Christians hang out, right? Wrong. Christians don't just simply go to church, they LIVE their faith. They are taught by their parents, they read God's Word and they live it out.

Our pastor delivered an amazing closing line to his sermon on Sunday. He asked us a question.

Knowing that God can see into our hearts . . . what will He see in yours?

Ouch.

May we live our lives as Jesus would. Always seeing AND preserving. May we take the time to look behind the fake smiles and into the hearts of those around us. There is hurting everywhere. And we hold The First Aid Kit in our hearts - Jesus. Let us reach out in love to those who are only seeing and not yet perceiving.

The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

You Give Love A Bad Name - Bon Jovi
Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 - Pink Floyd

Sight

When we find ourselves in stressful situations or in the middle of life changing events, we can often learn things about our inner self . . . that is, if we take the time to look. This week I learned something about myself and about my relationship with God. Let's just say it's been "eye opening."

A few weeks ago I noticed some bright flashes of light in my left eye whenever I would blink or move my eye around. Weird. Then a few days later I noticed some red, swirling lines when I closed my eye. More weirdness.

Well, my mind tends to wander around on it's own. Perhaps that's why I like to write. Thoughts and ideas just feed off one another and the next thing I know I am thinking something totally wacko. In the situation of my eye sight I just noticed the flashes and the lines in my eye. Then I began wondering what was causing it. Somewhere along the line I began seeing these "floaters" in my eyes and my imagination start creating all kinds of possibilities.

My mother had eye problems, my grandmother did too. Perhaps it was my turn. I started imagining all the possible scenarios. How would I get to work if I was blind? How could I even DO my work? I couldn't! I was doomed to sit at home, blind, trying to remember what people's faces looked like.

How did I wind up there? My mind just wandered all over the place. But then I stopped to think. How would it be if I really WAS blind? What would I do? Am I prepared for that? Am I prepared for the unexpected in my life?

Nope.

We are never properly prepared for most of the situations we encounter in life. Otherwise they wouldn't BE "situations." But think about it. What would happen if you suddenly became blind for example? How would that affect your life? How would you pick out which clothes to wear in the morning? Your socks? Your shoes? Could any one earn a living doing anything who can't see what they are doing? How could one read The Bible? What would the point of "watching" television be? How could we do the things we do now without our sight?

Well, if that happened to me (which I have already thought long and hard about) there are some thing I could do. I could get a voice-recognition app on my phone. Voice-to-text would be needed. "Call Bev." or "Text Gayle." Same with the computer. Not sure how I'd operate the mouse though.

And how would I recognize people? By voice I guess. Would someone allow me to be so intimate with them that I could touch their face and feel what it "looks like"? Hmm.

As I thought about these things I began to appreciate what it must be like to be blind. Not to be able to see a sunset or the faces a baby makes. It would suck! But guess what. I would survive. My wife would help me pick out my clothes. She could turn the computer on and get things ready for "Blind Bob. "I could listen to God's Word. In all honesty, would I truly be lacking any of the things I truly needed?

I would still have my wife. I would still have my family. I would still have my friends. And, most importantly, I would still have Jesus. What else do I need?

Our eye sight is truly a wonderful gift from God. But like so many of the gifts we have received from Him already, we often take them for granted. Our health, our talents, so many different ways of "looking" at things.

If we would take the time to see things through God's eyes, if you will, what a wonderfully peaceful and compassionate place we would be living in!

There is one more thing I would like you to consider before I close. Read this passage from the Book of John and meditate on what Jesus says in verse three.

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." - John 9:1-3

Are we spiritually blind? Are we going though life expecting things to lay out wonderfully for each of us? That's not going to be the case. If we would look at this life as if we were blind, as if we only had the essentials given to us from above, how would we live our lives? Would we actually live so that "the works of God might be displayed" in us? Think about that this week. And may God give you new sight in seeing the world in which we live.