“And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:1-3).
The disciples were quick to jump to the wrong conclusion. There was a blind man near the disciples and the Lord Jesus. What a terrible condition. Not only was he blind, he was blind from birth. Tragic enough to lose your eyesight and be left to the memories of faces, surroundings, and creation, but to be born blind before any memories could be created is most devastating, indeed. Therefore, the disciples reasoned, this man must have done something terrible. On the other hand, perhaps his parents had done something awful. The simple truth is that while both parents and son were sinners, his blindness was not because of a particularly horrible action or event. In fact, the Lord Jesus said that this happened so that His glorious works could be seen. There are many lessons for us in this text. First, I must beware of assuming that I have all the facts. Second, I must not assume that something bad must have happened and now the judgment of God is striking. Third, even when something really, really hard takes place, our sovereign God has a plan and a purpose. He truly can be trusted whether He removes the blindness or not!
For today: Don’t assume the worst. Be honest and watch for the Lord to work in ways that only He can.