Why Did God........?

The ninth chapter of John poses a very interesting question with an equally challenging answer.

When Jesus and His disciples came across a man who was blind from birth, they asked this question in verse 2--NIV--"Why was this man born blind? Was is a result of his own sins or those of his parents?"
3--"It was not because of his sins or his parents' sins," Jesus answered, "He was born blind so the power of God could be seen in him."

God doesn't bring sickness. Sickness is a result of Adam turning his earthly authority over to Satan. Satan brought sickness and death into the world. The cause of blindness goes all the way back to Adam.

BUT Jesus teaches us in this story that it is God's plan to turn something bad into something good. That is His heart. That is His very nature. That is the reason He sent His Son to die and be resurrected. It is God's will to turn bad situations into ones that will bring glory to Him.

The power of God was not seen in the man being born blind. Don't choke on the devil's false humble pie by saying that God gets glory from allowing bad stuff to happen and we just have to put up with it.

The power of God was seen in this man when he obeyed what Jesus told him to do and received his healing. If you were to ask this man about the years of being born blind, he would probably admit that he was glad to have been blind because he got the experience of being healed. The glory of God is manifested when His Word comes to pass and we are delivered and set free.

Why did Paul write in 1 Thessalonians 5:18--In everything give thanks? He didn't mean for us to give thanks FOR the junk we're going through at the moment. He meant for us to praise God in advance for His glory that will be revealed in us when He honors His Word and delivers us.

The more junk we go through and/or the longer it takes to get through it, the more verbal we ought to be about praising God. The harder it is and/or the longer it takes just means that we will see a greater manifestation of God's power when He answers our prayer. If it DOES take longer than expected, our praises to Him for answered prayer ought to grow in relationship to the problem. The harder the battle the sweeter the victory.

Here's something that Jesus says in that next verse that I bet you have missed. Verse 4--All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One who sent Me. Did you catch it? Jesus said ALL OF US are supposed to be doing something quickly. ALL OF US are to be carrying out our assigned tasks.

What tasks? Well....what task did the blind man have to carry out? He was born blind and he had to go through the suffering until God healed him. He suffered with it for years. BUT, there came a certain day and there came a certain hour and there came a certain moment in that man's life when all of his suffering came to an end.

Jesus changed everything in that man's life when he restored his sight. All the anguish, the hurt and the disappointment was TOTALLY destroyed in a moment of time when he obeyed what Jesus told him to do and received his sight. Can you even imagine the amount of joy that must have flooded his soul when he saw for the first time? Where was his heartache now? It was gone. Where were his endless questions about the mercy of God? They were turned into praise because God did what He said He would do.

What burden have you been carrying? What are you going through right now that you shouldn't rightly have to go through? Have you carried the weight of sin or sickness or poverty longer than you felt you should? Then follow Paul's advice and the blind man's testimony. Give God a shout of praise right in the middle of the agony and disappointment because He is working on your miracle right now.

And when God manifests His glory in your situation, your friends will rejoice with you. Like the blind man, your enemies might give you fits but that's OK. No matter how the Pharisees mistreated him, they couldn't take away from him the fact that he was healed.

So, let's go ahead and praise the Lord in the middle of adverse circumstances. It doesn't matter how hard they are. And it doesn't matter how long it's been. God's answer will totally obliterate all of the heartache that you are going through at the moment.