Open Our Eyes, Lord

In our Lenten journey this year, we have pondered temptations that we face in wilderness times, considered the work of the Spirit in our lives, and prayed for Jesus to give us and our world living water. In John 9 we learn how Jesus heals a man born blind. The man is not able to make a theological explanation of who Jesus is, nor explain how Jesus did what he did. The man only knows that he was blind, and Jesus helped him to see. What a transformation! Yet, even many of the village people who had known him his entire life, including the religious leaders, were reluctant to acknowledge the miracle they had witnessed.

Once again, His story (Jesus's story) is our story. There are many forms of blindness. We can be blind to the needs of others, blind to the impact of our behaviors and comments, blind to the blessings around us, blind to God's grace active right under our noses. In a past youth event that I led, teens searching for dollar bills that would be given to hunger relief could not find the last dollar which was sitting in the center of the middle table in the fellowship hall!

So clear to me, yet hard for them to see. That describes so much of life, and the journey of faith for many. The good news is that the Spirit of Jesus is constantly opening minds, helping us to learn, using our lives in ways we don't even see. In fact, it often through seeing the work of Jesus in our lives, that the eyes of others are opened. We are simply to use the sight we do have and give Jesus the credit.

As we pray for God to open our eyes, and open the eyes of our world. Read this story on your own and then ponder how His story is also your story. Diane Wheatley