Daily Devotional For Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday. There are stories in the Bible that leave you breathless. There are stories in the Bible that leave the recipients unable to explain what happened to them. Such a story is found in John 9. This story involves a man who was born blind and later Jesus heals and gives him his eyesight back. 

In biblical days, any kind of birth defect was considered by Jews as God’s punishment on the parents for some sin or even the baby in the womb for some sin. When Jesus and His disciples first encounter this man, this is the question of His disciples in John 9:2,  “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (NASB). We may laugh today that these disciples thought a baby could sin in the womb, but they did. Maybe Jesus, shaking His head with an answer, laughed internally when He said this in John 9:3,  “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him” (NASB).

Everyone in this story agrees the man was born blind. No one doubts the man’s blindness, but what they doubt is his healing. When asked, his response was this in John 9:10-11, “So they were saying to him, ‘How then were your eyes opened?’ (11) He answered, ‘The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight’” (NASB).

This man had been born blind, and Jesus healed him. When his neighbors and the people who had seen him begging for many years asked how this extraordinary thing had happened, the man honestly didn’t know. He couldn’t explain it medically or theologically, but he had a miraculous story to tell. So do we. It’s very easy to wear a mask and pretend we live perfect lives—untouched by sin, struggle, and heartache.

It’s harder to honestly confess that we’ve wrestled with all kinds of challenges. I hope you will allow yourself to be vulnerable and admit that God has walked with you through some tough times and helped you put your life back together again. When you do that, you will open doors to the freedom that honesty brings and become a firsthand witness to the life-changing power of God. Bad things do happen to very good and godly people.

Bad things do happen to very good and godly people. Philosophically solving the question of evil in the world has been going on ever since evil entered the world. For example, consider the findings of reserve on this subject below:

“Amid the pandemic and its 6.4 million reported deaths (as of August, 2022), the Pew Research Center surveyed 6,485 American adults—including 1,421 evangelicals—in September 2021. They were asked about how they philosophically “make sense of suffering and bad things happening to people. Among the survey’s main findings:

• 7 in 10 American adults agree that suffering is “mostly a consequence of people’s own actions.”
• 7 in 10 agree that suffering is “mostly a result of the way society is structured.”
• 8 in 10 believe—either in “God as described in the Bible” (58%) or in “a higher power or spiritual force” (32%)—yet say most suffering “comes from the actions of people, not from God.”
• 7 in 10 believe human beings are “free to act in ways that go against the plans of God or a higher power.”
• 5 in 10 believe God allows suffering because it is “part of a larger plan.”
• 4 in 10 believe satan is responsible for most of the world’s suffering.
• Less than 2 in 10 say they have doubted God’s omnipotence, goodness, or existence because of suffering” (Source: Jeremy Weberb, “Why Bad Things Happen to People, According to 6,500 Americans,” CT Magazine, 11-23-21).
  

We’re not as social-media-perfect as we might try to appear. Let’s be honest and share how God’s power has freed us from the façade of perfection. It’s as simple as saying, “My life is not perfect. But God has helped me, and He wants to help you, too.

Questions To Consider

1. If you have ever gone through something evil or harsh, what lessons did God teach you from these?
2. It seems that the man born blind and then healed had a challenge convincing people he was born blind. Why do you think this was so challenging?
3. I am convinced that attempting to answer the “why” questions – Why did this happen to me? – is an effort in futility. I believe we should help the person change the question from “Why” to “How” – how is God going to help me get through this? Why is this a better approach?
4. Some of these findings from the Pew Research Center may seem normal to you. What was surprising to you and why?
5. What were you spiritually blind to in the past but now you see?
   

Scripture To Meditate On: John 9:40-41, “Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, ‘We are not blind too, are we?’ (41) Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains’” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Heavenly Father, though my life is not perfect, and challenges persist, thank You for consistently delivering me from every obstacle and trial. May I be vulnerable enough to share all You have done in my life so others might have hope in You for their own lives. Lord, what You have done and are doing for me, I ask You to do for others. Lord, where I am spiritually blind, please open my eyes to see for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly