Are You Blind?

I am joining a new group today.

Still Saturday

Come join others who are sharing on this Saturday.

Last weekend, I was in Dallas for a conference and stayed over to attend church with friends on Sunday.  As we drove through a crowded stretch of nice inner-city streets toward the church, we noticed a woman walking on the sidewalk with a cane - obviously blind.  And we said something like,

"Oh my goodness, look how fast that blind woman is walking on these busy streets."

My friend even said,

"I admire someone like that so much,"

and we all agreed.

And that was that.  We went on our way never giving this "blind person" another thought.

UNTIL .......

The passage for the morning message was John 9:1-41.  The story of the man blind from birth whom Jesus healed with mud made from His spittle.

The pastor explained that we see a blind person, but we only see that she is blind.

We don't see the person!

We see a homeless person and only see that he is dirty and suppose he has a mental or drug problem.

We don't see the person!

We see a young woman selling herself on the street, and see that she is living a life of sin.

We don't see the person!

In reality, we are worse than the blind person.  We see, yet we are blind.  We have vision, yet our heart is not sensitive.  Our heart is hardened and blinded.

We are not seeing what God would have us see!

God is "The Light of the World" and sees the person, not the problem.

He says,

"You Matter!"

Jesus sees the blind and loves but He doesn't concentrate on the blindness as we do.  He sees how He can fix that blindness - how He can minister and use the blindness to show Himself.

Not all blind persons are healed and given back their sight, but God desires to show His light into their life and circumstances.

Not all homeless people are given a job and a lovely home in which to live, but God desires to show them Himself and bring light and security into their situation.

Not all call girls are given an immediate healthy lifestyle and a stable family, but God desires to show His light with forgiveness and wholeness.

We are called to be the "Light of God" to the multitudes, to the hurting, to the homeless, the forgotten.  But how can we when we are more blind than they are?

The only way to see the "Light" is to acknowledge that we live in the dark.

God chooses to use our blindness, our destitution, our brokenness in order for us to see who we really are -

when we confess we are blind!

My friend told me that they had never seen this woman before on the Sundays they travel that route to church.

Is it a coincidence that God allowed us to see this blind lady in order to demonstrate in a personal way that we are also blind?

I think not!