Verse of the Day 8/21
John 9:3 Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." English Standard Version (ESV)
Today's verse comes from John 9 where Jesus heals a man who was born blind from birth. Most likely, once they realized his blindness, his parents and others would have prayed to God early on in his life for healing and restoration. There were obviously questions and accusations of why he had been born blind. In today's verse Jesus makes it plain as to why this had happened. It is an answer that may be hard to come to grips with, but it was true in his life and it is true for us in and through many situations that we have faced, injury to a son, illness for a loved one that changes the course of lives.
There are many things to learn through this; how precious life is; this life is not all that there is; there is always hope; there is a future even in and through life's challenges; and God is there with us, He will lead us, He will be our strength and our guide, He will see us through.
Mark Batterson has experienced some of this and he writes, "We're often so anxious to get out of difficult, painful, or challenging situations that we fail to grow through them. We're so fixated on getting out of them that we don't get anything out of them. We fail to learn the lessons God is trying to teach us or cultivate the character God is trying to grow in us. We're so focused on God changing our circumstances that we never allow God to change us! So instead of ten or twenty years of experience, we have one year of experience repeated ten or twenty times.....Sometimes we need to pray "get me out" prayers. But sometimes we need to pray "get me through" prayers. And we need the discernment to know when to pray what."
I've often spoke of the need for us to be "see through-ers" and not "look at-ers", even in, no, especially in those times of pain, trouble or heartache. In order to see through we need to offer "get me through" prayers and be ready to receive the power and grace to endure and see it through that God might be displayed in your life. C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word. (Andrae Crouch)
-- In Christ, Mike Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. NIV
John 9:1-8 The Message (MSG)
True Blindness
9 1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?"
3-5 Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."
6-7 He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed—and saw.
8 Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, "Why, isn't this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?"
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