Blind from birth or blinded by your sight?

I always find it interesting that when things happen we don't understand, we are blinded by our own sight. We see things the way we want to see them.  We question the facts.  We disavow what is right in front of us not believing our eyes.  It seems we are just blind.  Blind to the truth.  Blind to reality.  Blind to possibility because we can't believe it.  Sometimes I think those that are truly blind - may see more of the truth than we actually do.

I've always admired those are blind, not because I've ever wanted to switch places with them.  However, I watch them as they navigate in the world; strong, courageous, independent, and aware of everything around them.  I stand in awe of their ability to function and enjoy life, especially when they can't see what I take for granted everyday.  The beauty in the world.  The joy of a sunset or sunrise.  The special look on my children's face that makes me just adore them and fall in love with them all over again even when I'm disappointed in what they did.  I long to see as clearly as they do at times, even though they have no sight.

God recently opened my eyes through a great story in His word in about this. It's a simple story, yet a miraculous one where one who was blind sees clearly and those that see...are blind.   John Chapter 9

It starts simply v1 "As he passed by, Jesus saw man, blind from birth."  Jesus SAW this man.  He SAW a need.  He SAW something wonderful.  The disciples didn't see that.  They saw a blind man and asked Jesus v2 "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  They saw someone blind and assumed he must have sinned to have this judgement upon him.  But I love Jesus response v3, "It was not this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

WOW!  That 3rd verse got me....

 I couldn't help but thinking that maybe this man's whole life had been prepared for this encounter with Jesus where he was seen, and about to see more clearly than ever before.

This man was was a beggar.  He couldn't earn a living the same way everyone else did because he was blind.  He had no Braille language, no guide dog, no support.  He couldn't work.  He had to depend on others to survive.  I only hope too that he was also blind to the mocking that went on around him, faces people made at him but I somehow have the feeling that he saw that too.

As I read this story, what I loved is that it wasn't just that a blind man was about to receive sight, but that through giving him sight, it would confront all those around him that thought they saw so clearly yet were blind.

It is not a glamorous miracle.  In fact I think if he could have seen, he might not have liked what Jesus was doing to heal him.  I love it.  Jesus spit into mud.  He then put that on his eyes.  Told him to go wash that mess off, in a pool  Siloam (which meant sent) and He did just as Jesus said.  When he washed it away - he came away seeing.  I imagine it wasn't unclear either.  Not like I see when I half awake in the middle of the night.  I bet is was clear - crystal clear and almost overwhelming.

The Lord Jesus spit into mud.  The blind man washed.  He sees.  Pretty simple.  Pretty amazing story. Of course the fact Jesus did this on the Sabbath, caused quite a stir...but more on that later.  This man whose been blind for years suddenly sees. His neighbors and those that saw him didn't even recognize him.  They were perplexed.  They argue about whether or not he IS the same man.  I imagine his outward appearance didn't change much - so why the big mystery?  Oh, maybe it's because no one could believe that a man born blind could see... maybe they couldn't see what was right in front of them.

They took the man to their leaders, the Pharisees.  The Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. He told him.  They argued how Jesus could do this.  Was He of God or the Devil? They didn't believe he was born blind.  They called his parents to confirm it was true.  His parents feared them.  They answered, this is our son, he was born blind, but how he sees we don't know (even though they did).  Ask our son, he's of age and will tell you.  he Pharisee's asked him again in They called him  and said, "Give glory to God. We know this man (Jesus) is a sinner." v24  He answered them, "Whether he is a sinner, I do know know.  One thing I do know that thought I was blind now I see." v25

The Pharisees asked him again what Jesus did to him.  He can't believe they don't see what he is saying.  v 26..."I have told you already and you would not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become his disciples?"   Not only were they blinded by their misbeliefs about Jesus, they were deaf too.  Or were they?

The Pharisees eventually kick this man out of their fellowship.  Too threatening all that he saw.  Jesus hears about it and comes to find this man.  He asks him a simple question of belief. v25 ..."Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  The man answers him v26 "And who is he sir, that I may believe in him?"  What happens next is amazing...Jesus said to him v27 "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you."  This man who was blind now sees fully.  He is seen and known and sees and knows fully.  He worships him and says, "Lord I believe..."

It is perhaps the last verse of that tells the whole story, we'd call this the "SO WHAT" in business... v39 Jesus said, "For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see, may see, and those who see may become blind." 

Oh Lord, that I would see.  The choice is clear. Our eyes are opened.  The question now is how we will respond?

Will we be like these neighbors, questioning how this can be?  Will we be like these leaders, told again and again how these things happened, and yet we are blinded by our own perceptions and beliefs?  Or will we be like the blind man and receive sight and believe?

One of the reason's I love this story is it is so raw.  It's honest.  It's humble. It's a bit in your face.  It's  clear.  It's not something we can do.  Jesus sees the blind and frees them.  He SAW... he ACTED....and all the man had to do was RESPOND.  Jesus didn't see a beggar, He saw someone whose life was about to display God's glory.  He saw one who would receive sight and treasure it so he opened his eyes and in doing so, showed everyone else around him their blindness.

As a Christian, I'd like to think my eyes are always clear, but I know they are not.  I miss seeing things every day.  I don't always see the need.  I don't always see the glory about to come.  I miss the potential in others because the way they show up may put me off.   How grateful I am that God opens eyes.   I pray I would see as clearly as the blind man and believe, worship and treasure the sight I've been given.

 Are you blind too?  Has He opened your eyes? If not, do you want to see more clearly?   Just ask Him.  He is faithful.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and I'm always happy to pray with or help you.

Winter's past - Behold all things become new

Spring means it's time for the cold winter to thaw and the residue of that season to melt away at times flowing into a raging river.  Time for rebirth after a season of death or detachment.  This spring feels very symbolic for me as I realize I have been long in winter, for many, many years, and God just thawed out my heart and unleashed a wellspring of His presence that is incredibly strong and powerful, nearly sweeping me away in passion, love, and excitement for Him and all that He is doing in me. 

I've always had confidence in God's love for me since I accepted Jesus into my heart over 20 years ago but at times I've felt the chill from the loss of his presence, and the coldness of my own heart, my own desires. 

Enduring a painful season in my professional life over the last nine months, God met me powerfully one Sunday in July as I visited Hillsong Church in Sydney on my business trip.  He lovingly reminded me that my love had grown cold and I was only reaping what I was sowing, which was nothing of Him.  I wasn't spending time with Him, I wasn't sharing the gifts and talents He gave me with others.  In short - I was just going through the motions and relying on my strength, my power, my wisdom, and my abilities to get things done.  And the hard thing was I did that pretty well, it was "normal".  But it took an overflowing of the Holy Spirit to reignite in me a passion to know Him more, to call me to relationship, not religion, and to release me to experience Him fully, not just once in a while, every day.  

I liked this flow.  It was a strong flow, but still not overflowing.  Of course, I thought I was flowing really well until God brought me face to face with the story of Naaman and his leprosy one Sunday as I was visiting Valley Christian Center in Dublin, CA on one of my business trips.  

(2 Kings 5: 1-13)  - Summarized version: Naaman was a leader, a strong one, but he had a secret.  He had leprosy.  He was a mighty commander of the army of Aram.  A little servant girl a band of his raiders had captured from Israel spoke to Naaman's wife about the God of Israel who could cure him of this disease.  He rose and went to his King and asked permission to go, he went with offerings for the King of Israel, but the king only tore his robes in agony trying to understand why the King of Aram would send his commander to him for healing.  But then God...

God alerted his prophet Elisha who told the King of Israel, send Naaman to me so he will know that surely there is a prophet of the Lord in this Land.  Naaman came to Elisha in his chariot and Elisha didn't even go down to meet him in person, instead he sent a messenger to him and told him to say to him "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”  Naaman went away angry, expecting the prophet to do some elaborate ritual over him, not something simple like bathing in a dirty river.   But one of his servants urged him, cajoling him by saying if he had said to do something great you would have done it... how much more should you do it if it's easy (wash and be cleaned).   Naaman humbled himself and finally did as the prophet said and his skin became as new as a young man.  

What was interesting about this story, and the young preacher Isaiah Salividar who brought it was that it showed me how I give up too easily.  It built so perfectly on an earlier passage God had used in my quiet time earlier that morning about the Desperate Gentile Woman in Matthew15:21-28.  This woman was so desperate for Jesus to help her that she kept bugging his disciples even after he ignored her, told her he wasn't here to save her, compared her to a dog and yet she kept on asking for his help.  I know I would have given up probably after his disciples brushed me off since their master had as well.  But she persisted and eventually, her desperation and persistence won Jesus over after she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."  Jesus then answered her, "O, woman, great is your faith!  Be it done for you as you desire."  

These two stories collided one Sunday like a perfect storm as God showered down His holiness and reminded me that the depth of my relationship with Him was in direct proportion to my depth of my desperation for Him.  And like Naaman, and the gentile Canaanite woman, he wasn't going to just bless me the first time.  

I found myself broken at the alter crying out in my icy heart feeling nothing.  Crying out and feeling nothing.  And crying out and feeling nothing, crying out and feeling nothing, then feeling anger, growing in fear that He'd never touch me, and then a brokenness at that thought and finally it sprung - a flood of desperation.   Even though the altar call had finished I wasn't leaving until I was blessed.  I was going to dip until He filled me.  I was not leaving without a touch from him.  That night God thawed my cold heart and brought forward a spring of living water to flow in and through me,  releasing it in abundance, overflowing with passion and joy.  He brought forth the river of His Holy Spirit in my life in a new, fresh, and powerful way. 

Since that night over 3 weeks ago, God has continued to thaw out my fears, my dreams, passions long forgotten and released a growing spring in my heart.  As the river grows it is clearing away the debris I've allowed to collect in my mind, my desires, my pride, my indifference and I find myself swept away, on fire, yet doused in His love.  I can't explain it, I can't contain it, and I can't do anything other than share it.  

Friends, as Spring comes this year, I'm praying it literally comes to you and your life.  How is your relationship with God?  Is it as deep as your desperation for Him?  Have you turned away just one or two dips before the blessing comes?  Imagine what would have happened if Naaman quit dipping in the river after 4 times, or if that Canaanite woman had stopped when Jesus said, "I'm here only to save the lost sheep of Israel."  But they didn't, they kept pressing in, desperate for his Healing touch, mired in doubt but willing to thaw their fears and pride to receive the gift of life before them.  They humbled themselves and refused to leave until they were healed, until they were blessed, until they had the fullness of their desires.  

I pray this Spring will awaken the realization that without our desperation we will remain frozen in our own ways, our indifference, and our ways that seem normal but are merely embers of a greatness He wants to unleash in us.

I'm happy to talk with any of you further as the Spirit may prompt you and encourage you to run into His arms and refuse to leave until the fullness of your desire, the lesions on your heart are healed.  There are enough crumbs to satisfy us all.

I'm so grateful this winter has passed in my life and all things become new!  I want to live in this fresh spring of every day swept away by His love, His desire, His will, and His presence.  

Blessings to you.  May you find new life this spring in His Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. Amen.