Dave's Diary

Daily readings: John 9 and Psalm 44

Deep truths about Jesus were revealed in John 9. Jesus demonstrated the truth of His claim to be the Light of the world by restoring the sight of a man born blind; and the Pharisees demonstrated their unwillingness to change their hardened hearts and therefore remained blind to the reality of Jesus’ identity.

But, from a pastoral point of view, perhaps the most important verse in this chapter is Jesus’ response to His disciples question: ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ (v.2).

³ Jesus answered, “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. He is blind so that God’s power might be seen at work in him. (GNT)

When we suffer some kind of physical infirmity, illness or inability, it is vitally important to hold these two truths in our hearts. Firstly, this is not a mysterious punishment from God for some sin we’ve committed. There is not a straight line to be drawn from our suffering back to some sin. Suffering is present in a fallen and sinful world, but it is not inflicted by God on individual people in the kind of way the disciples had in mind. Quite frankly, if God punished us for our sins in that way now, none of us would remain to tell the tale. And secondly, God is always graciously at work to strengthen us in our weakness and to reveal His goodness to us. God’s power is made perfect in weakness and His grace will prove sufficient for us.  As the Lord said to the apostle Paul, “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) Here in John 9, Jesus promises us that God’s power will be seen to be at work in us when we are weak. Praise the Lord for His amazing grace!

Life application: If you have to endure some infirmity, illness or inability today, hold on tightly to the truth that God is with you and His power will be at work in you for your good and for His glory. And look out for the opportunity to encourage someone else who might be in that situation today too.