Day 20: Jesus Gives Sight to All Kinds of Blindness

They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight.

“He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?”

“He’s a prophet,” he said.

The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.

They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

“We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”

He answered, “Whether or not he’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!” JOHN 9:13–25, EMPHASIS MINE

THE LAST FEW MONTHS have been emotionally blurry as I’ve linked arms with my family and limped through the unexpected death of a first cousin, as well as the sobering, stage 4 cancer diagnosis of an uncle. Yet because of the responsibilities of everyday life—deadlines and dinner preparation and doctor visits (because I got COVID for the second time, although thankfully it wasn’t nearly as serious as my first go-round)—I found myself putting my head down and just plowing through. You know those seasons you find yourself enduring much more so than enjoying?

But then I came face-to-face with pure grace recently when I got to reconnect with a beautiful image-bearer named Lindsey, whom I first met when she was in her early twenties and just starting her addiction recovery journey while facing a possible ten-year prison sentence. God knit us quickly and deeply during a six-month Bible study/hot-mess club I had the undeserved privilege of leading at the faith-based, residential program she was remanded to while awaiting sentencing. Lindsey was, for all intents and purposes, the first young woman I mothered.

However, because of circumstances beyond our control, we lost touch after she graduated from the program and was incarcerated. And yet here she was again, twelve years later, striding toward me at the altar of a church where I was standing after speaking at a women’s worship night. She looked almost exactly the same as she did the last time I’d seen her all those years ago—albeit with a more radiant countenance—and was trailed by a lovely gaggle of women whom I soon found out are all residents in the faith-based addiction recovery program she and her husband founded after they got out of prison! During our long, tearful, first-of-many embraces, Lindsey whispered, “Everything you prayed over me twelve years ago has come true.” There was a time she struggled to see out of the trench she was stuck in—and we’ve all been there. But now, here she was, eyes wide open and brimming with hope and faith in Jesus. Eyes looking outward to others to give them hope, to help them look toward Jesus so they can see out of their trenches too! It took all the restraint I could muster not to collapse into a heaving pile of praise and thanksgiving a few minutes later while watching her and Missy meet for the first time and then hug like long-lost sisters.

Life is sometimes hard and heartbreaking because we live in a broken world marred by sin, but my goodness, there are So. Many. More. Miracles yet to be rejoiced over, y’all! So many more treasures of divine grace yet to be dug from the hard clay of our lives. So many more seasons we’ll see the glory and redemption of our great God when we were blind to it just one short season ago. Don’t you just love being newly slayed by the redemptive kindness of King Jesus? Color me wildly grateful, freshly hopeful, deeply content, and just a teensy bit worn out from our recent revival.

• WHAT RECENT hardships have dulled or sullied your perspective of Jesus?
• READ ISAIAH 40:11 (preferably in the New Living Translation or The Message paraphrase). How does your perspective change when you ponder the promise of God holding us close to His heart?