To Display God’s Works

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:1–3 (NIV)

The blind man could probably hear Jesus and His disciples approaching. When he heard one of them ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” he immediately knew who they were talking about.

The disciples made a theological assumption that somebody in this man’s bloodline must have grossly disobeyed God for this man to be born blind. Either that, or the man himself deserved punishment for some sin.

But Jesus makes a strange statement in response to their perplexing question: “This man was born blind so that God's work might be displayed in his life.”

I wonder how many of us could appropriate that answer in our lives. I wonder how many of us could embrace the idea that perhaps our journey has had twists and turns, highs and lows, experiences and encounters that could never have unfolded any other way because God wanted to display Himself through our circumstances.

Our lives are shaped, suited, and situated to best reflect the work that God wants to display. This ought to certainly expand how we accept, embrace, and steward some of the conditions of our lives. We can find healthy emotional space for some things if we accept that it might not be about our ease and comfort, but about God’s power and work.

Maybe I need to stop thinking that the conditions I’m in are a curse or a punishment, and maybe I should hear Jesus when He says, “You haven't been cursed, nor have you been judged. You are not deficient. You're not inadequate. You haven't been overlooked or lessened. You are not skipped over or viewed as less than.”

Your journey, the space you occupy, the struggles that are unique to you, the stresses and conditions that you would so prefer not to have—all of these are gifted to your life so that, through your life, God may show His power, demonstrate His work, extend His will, and invite people into His way.