Your pain, your emotions and your story are not for naught. Behind these circumstances God has glory waiting to be unveiled. He has power waiting to be revealed. He has encouragement awaiting your soul. He stands ready to show you how to see God’s glory – hidden in your present day circumstances.
Psalm 30:5 “So take hope. For in the moment is pain, but joy comes in the morning.”
The story of a blind man paints an incredible picture for us. He was actually born both blind and poor. We can only imagine his struggles, his loneliness, his embarrassment and his feelings of hopelessness. We may ask, “how could this happen to him? Blind and poor? What hope did he have for work? How demotivated must he have felt?”
Mark 9:23 “Yet, with Christ, all things are possible for those who believe.”
Jesus often rescued others to reveal His glory – and to better the story.
John 9:6 “Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.”
After the blind man applied the mud, Jesus told him to wash his eyes. He did. And – the blind man could see! Imagine his joy when his blurry eyes gave way to the glory held within the eyes of Christ. When we look at this story, we see Jesus was faithful to heal.
But the blind man played an important role too. He had to take a moment, to step out of his suffering, to step out of the place of despair and to get up and walk to the water. He had to obey, when perhaps all he felt like doing was sitting and laughing at the thought of putting mud on his eyes. When all he felt like saying was, “nothing has ever worked for me before.” But, he got up. He listened. He believed and he obeyed. He took a step towards healing. And, what probably was the biggest prayer of his lifetime – was answered.
God takes pain and exchanges it for glory and power. He comes into our moments of despair and of hopelessness and offers us a new step – when we believe. When asked earlier why this man was blind, Jesus said it was:
John 9:3 “… so that the works of God might be displayed in him”
It kind of reminds me of the words Jesus spoke to Martha at Lazarus’ tomb:
John 11:40 “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
When we believe, we perceive the glory of the Lord. The beauty that God reveals to us often extends beyond our own eyes. It surpasses our benefit. It has some saving work to do. Because God knows His glory is too amazing to contain. He knows the glory in our story is too fantastic to bottle it up. We have to share. We have to talk. Come and see what Jesus did – for me – as I believed! We have seen glory, to shine glory. We shine glory, so that others may believe.
1 Corinthians 10:31 “…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
God’s glory is BIG – and once revealed – there is no stopping it. Look at how far the Glory of God has shined in this story. We still talk about the healed blind man today. The story encourages us thousands of years later. Because the blind man overcame, he couldn’t help but proclaim. And the more he proclaimed, the more restored he became. The more he shared the more he believed. His faith is fanned. He can’t contain the glory of the Lord. It is too much to hold inside.
We can learn a valuable lesson from this blind and poor man who had been through so much. No matter our situation, no matter our pain, no matter our suffering – there is glory in our story. Can you see it now? Perhaps not. Will you see it some day? I hope so. Trust God to work and then faithfully wait. But, make no mistake, He has hidden glory in your story. He turns our messes into masterpieces – for His purposes. We are the light bearers for Christ’s glory present day.
Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Do you feel like you have no light today? Take heart. God will work things out. He will redeem His children. He loves us too much not too. He has not forgotten you. He cares for you.
Wait and see. God has hidden His glory in your story. He will show you how to see God’s glory in your life. While once you were blind, soon you will see. And when you do – go yell it on the mountain! There are others waiting to learn how to see God’s glory.