"His disciples asked Him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested (displayed and illustrated) in him.'"
John 9: 2-3 AMP
I LOVE this verse. There are many times when I will go back to the gospels just to revisit the miracles Jesus did while He was on the earth, to remind myself that He never turned anyone away. You won't be able to look through any of the four accounts of His life and find an example where someone came to Him with a need and He left them empty handed. Even when He was rebuking the disciples' lack of faith, He couldn't stop from doing the will of the Father. To me, this particular passage is evidence that it is ALWAYS God's will that we be healed. The man wasn't born blind so that he would stay blind...so he could learn a lesson (although I'm sure he did). No, when he was born blind, God had already set the plan for his healing into motion. Through his healing, a world that had only known of God's awesome power and supreme authority as master of the universe was now going to be shown His character of compassion, mercy and unconditional love for His creation. Jesus was saying if you want a picture of what the workings of God are, here you go...healing, deliverance, redemption. This man was now a living testament of God's amazing grace.
Of course, before Jesus came along, he lived a long life as a blind beggar. The Bible says he was blind from birth, but by this time, he was already a man, old enough to give his own account of what happened to the Pharisees. We also know from scripture that his parents were devout Jews. It makes me wonder...How many years had they mourned over their son's disability? How long had it taken for guilt to consume them, assuring them that this was punishment for their sin? If that was the first thing the disciples asked, then presumably, this was a common belief among the Jews. Imagine Jesus coming along and revealing that they had carried that shame all that time for nothing. I also noticed that the man says that before this happened no one had ever heard of someone who was born blind receiving their sight. I don't know why, but it hadn't occurred to me that those kinds of miracles hadn't been done before Jesus. Did his parents even pray for him to be healed? I mean, if you've never even heard of God healing blindness, then how would you know you could ask for it? It's interesting, because none of this mattered. God had determined His glory was going to be shown through this man. He was beginning to display His new covenant. Heaven on earth.
We have been in a real trying place in this journey with Joshua. It's like the fire is getting turned up and it makes me wonder if maybe that means a breakthrough is right around the corner. We had a major one last week and I haven't stopped thanking God since. One of the hardest parts of all this is how difficult it is financially. It is so sad to think that we now know so much more about treating and even healing Autism than we did even ten years ago and yet it's so expensive there has to be thousands of children falling through the cracks. I have promised that one day when I am able I will do what I can to make sure parents won't have to choose between paying their necessary bills and getting their children the help they need. Anyway, we had applied for a scholarship for Joshua's ABA and after thinking that we would never even hear back from the people, I got a phone call saying that we had been approved for a large sum of money. The lady told me that we "just happened" to get our application in at the right time because they only have money to give at certain times of the year. Not only that, but usually they use it to help families cover what insurance will not. She told me that they would most likely work it out so that it would even cover our copays when the insurance finally kicks in. I cried. I'm crying again just thinking about it. Jesus is so faithful. EVERY time I've thrown my hands up and said, "Ok, it's all on You because we can't make this happen," He has come through above and beyond. He's NEVER early, but He is always right on time. This was just the extra boost I needed to remind me that this isn't forever. One day we are going to reach the light at the end of this tunnel and be testaments of His amazing grace too. The road is a hard one, and not one I would have chosen, but I know it isn't leading us to nowhere. I know that even though there are eternal things being developed in me and my family right now, the ultimate purpose will be revealed when we get our miracle. His glory will be seen. And no one will be able to deny it.
"And when the burden seems too much to bear, remember the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."--Relient K
