Blindness

I could talk about me, I could talk about I, I could talk about number one, oh-my-me-my. (I hope you got that reference.) But instead of talking about me and my college experience (which is going pretty good for those of you who are interested) I want to talk about something else. Something that has more meaning that the ho-hum of everyday life.

But I don't actually know what I want to talk about.. talk about a plot twist, huh?

I'm just tired of talking about me and how my life is going, the point of being a journalist is telling other people's story. And there are so many stories to tell.

In the past week or so, God has started to put something on my heart. Over the past week, I have heard the passage in John 9 about three times in three different situations. If that isn't a sign from God, then I don't know what is.

This passage is about the blind man whom Jesus heals. The disciples pass the man and ask Jesus if it was the man's sin or the man's parent's sin that caused him to be born blind. Jesus answered: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him." John 9:3. I want to just focus on that little bit.

This isn't a sermon, I'm far too under qualified for that, but I do have some thoughts on this passage and how it applies to life and why I've been hearing it everywhere.

First of all, we are all blind. We all have trouble seeing what's around us and seeing the truth.When Jesus heals the blind man by spitting, (yeah, you read that right) spitting into some mud and rubbing it on this man's eyes, he not only cures his physical vision, but he gives him spiritual sight as well.

Now, you may be asking, "What the heck does she mean by 'spiritual sight'? Is that just another Christian-ese word that sounds good but doesn't really mean anything? No, what I mean by that is that the man came to know Jesus as the Messiah after his healing. He gained spiritual truth and knowledge, not just his vision.

 I know I need help with seeing past my own little world everyday, and I think that even though I already know Jesus is the Messiah, He is still opening my eyes to the world around me. He helps me see what I need to work on in my life, as well as what is good and beautiful in my life.

The second thing that I've gotten from this little passage is that Jesus says neither the sin of this man nor the sin of his parents was the reason he was blind. He was blind so that the works of God could be revealed in him. I get a feeling of peace when I read this. It means that yes, I am a sinner, and yes, I have imperfections, but God, who works all things for good, is using me and my imperfections and my blindness, to reveal himself to others.

No, I'm not saying rejoice that you are a sinner, sin is still bad and evil. But God is good and merciful and he has good plans for us.

Biola has been so great for me. I'm so happy I'm here, learning about God and about myself and how to be a good journalist. But sometimes I'm blinded by everything I feel I have to do. I get blind to the fact that where I'm at right now, won't always be where I'm going. And where I  think I need to be in my life: in my walk, with my schoolwork, with my boyfriend, might not always be where God has me. I need to constantly remind myself that His plan is better than any plan I think I have. And I know I'm going to mess up, I'm a part of this fallen world, but this passage reminds me that even though I live with sin, God can still do good works with me.

So somehow I ended up talking about myself anyway (nice going there, Grace) but I hope each of you gathered something from this and hopefully understood what I was trying to say. Maybe leave a comment if you have an idea for a blog post that isn't centered around Grace, I'd much appreciate the feedback:)

"I think we all suffer from acute blindness at times. Life is a constant journey of trying to open your eyes. I'm just beginning my journey, and my eyes aren't fully open yet." Olivia Thirlby

-Grace