(March 12, 2025) Dr Richard Winter shares encouragingly…

Some of you may remember Art Linkletter hosting Kids Say the Darndest Things TV program. It had excerpts of kids sharing experiences on different issues one of which was prayer.

For instance, a little girl talking to God prayed, ‘Dear God, thanks for my little brother. But what I prayed for was a puppy.’ How’s that for an honest prayer.

A little boy prayed, ‘Hey God, could you just stick another holiday between Christmas and Easter because nothing is good there right now.’ Kids can live for holidays, can’t they?

Kids grow up and their prayers become much more profound! Adults who don’t believe in God often struggle with the question: ‘How can an all-loving, all-powerful God allow evil and suffering to exist?’

• I’m recalling the above as an intro to the John 9 incident of Jesus healing and blessing a blind man and glorifying God.

Jesus Concentrates
Jesus had been in the temple grounds and verse 1 tells that on leaving ‘He saw a man blind from birth.’ Stop right there! ‘Saw’ is eido… yes it means to perceive with eyes, but also means knowing, considering, understanding what must be done!

On the other hand His disciples merely asked Him a correlation question, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ (v2).

Got you thinking? Firstly I would highlight some points:
(i) We may claim we’re looking for God, but Jesus is looking for us, the troubled lost: (Luke 19:10).
(ii) His disciples made this man’s blindness a point of discussion rather than an object of compassion!
(iii) But Jesus concentrated on his  need and was ready to help him… and in so doing glorify God!

• There comes a time of asking oneself: ‘What can I do to help alleviate suffering in others?’
• Is suffering just a topic of discussion… or an object of compassion?
• The disciples’ question showed they believed Jewish theology concerning the problem of sin, that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between what you do and its consequences in this life.
• Therefore… if you are suffering greatly, there must be sin in your life. Sound familiar?
• Doesn’t that remind us of Job’s buddies who accused him of great sin because there was great suffering going on in his life? (Job 4:7-8; 8:20;11:14-15,17).

2000 years ago, the Pharisees believed in something known as prenatal sin and taught that you could actually sin in the womb! Hence the disciples’ direct correlation question, ‘Did he sin… or did his parents sin causing his blindness?’

But look at the glaring error in such a question— How can you sin to be born blind? Jesus set the record straight, ‘His blindness is due neither to his sin nor to that of his parents; it happened so that God’s power might be seen at work in him’ (v3CJB).

Because of sin in the garden of Eden things can go wrong even in the womb with results that can be seen in the life of a child:

• Drugs that a mother may take could affect a babe.
• Alcohol poisoning can affect a new babe for life.
• The reality is that we don’t know everything occurring in the womb.

In this incident, Jesus said it was neither personal sin nor parental sin but rather, there was a miracle waiting to happen! The poor beggar didn’t know that truth about his condition, nor that he was going to be cured. All of his life he’d been blind… but now he is going to be miraculously given sight, all to the glory of God!

May we concentrate on people’s needs, pray for them and glorify our heavenly Father.

Jesus Challenges
And what did Jesus do on that John 9 day?

Verses 6-7 tell that after challenging that wrong prenatal teaching ‘He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.’

Do note that Jesus was personal here… He could have just said ‘Be healed!’ But He touched the man with His hands. Did you ever think about this about Jesus— His mission was not primarily a crusade against diseases, but a personal ministry of salvation… and caring not only for crowds but individuals, some of whom happened to have diseases and needed a comforting personal touch.

He wanted all those people, one by one, to feel His love. Love usually involves touching… there are times of putting your arm on a shoulder as you pray for someone. Human touch means so much! Are you willing to alleviate somebody else’s suffering by concentrating on praying about their needs? Now you can’t work the miracle Jesus did—  but you can reach out and let them know you care… and you can challenge them about Jesus.

Then this blessed man’s neighbours wanted to know what had happened (John 9:8-11) and he told them about Jesus. Someone will want to know what happened to you when you truly meet Jesus. Are you willing to be challenged about sharing? This man who had been blind was very willing to talk about his new friend!

Do note too that our sharing about Jesus can itself be challenged… as happened to this blind man who now could see, both by his neighbours (John 9:10) and the religious Pharisees who denied knowing Jesus (John 9:13-29).

No wonder this man who had received a miracle touch from Jesus said, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does His will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing’ (John 9:30-33).

The reality was that those neighbours and religious leaders had never expected this blind beggar to be able to see! We must never limit the power of God. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He worked miracles back then and He can still do so now— through our caring,  reaching out to share Him, believing, prayers that recall His power, and compassion!

Psalm 78 highlights the children of Israel forgetting about the greatness and caring arm of God limiting the Holy One of Israel by their unbelief in not remembering His power (v41b-42a). Read the whole psalm— you’ll  be blessed… and challenged! And do note that ‘limited’ is tavah… to grieve.

And how can we grieve and limit a limitless God. By unbelief! Remember when Jesus went to His home town, Nazareth… He could do no great miracle among the people except a few things because of the unbelief that persisted. Mark 6:1-6 records that He marveled at their unbelief. Unbelief is apistia… faithlessness!

Jesus Cares
Jesus warned in Matthew 23 against blind pharisaical types that they’re ‘Blind guides who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel!’ (v24NLT). When Jesus came to earth, He came to bring salvation, not condemnation. But His coming results in condemnation to those who have persistently hard hearts.

John Newton got his famous hymn, Amazing Grace, from this text. The converted slave trader wrote—
‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.’

That’s one thing I myself know— I too was blind, but not anymore. I now can see what I know for sure. And I love to share what Jesus has done for me! No one can take away a person’s personal testimony. That’s why your testimony, your belief and faithfulness are powerful.

Show that you’re like Jesus… that you care! Tell unbelievers how you came to Christ. Be yourself of course… perhaps along the lines of ‘This is what happened to me. This is who I was before I came to Jesus. This is who and what I now am… and it can happen to you.’

Matthew 23:24NLT warning above regarding blind pharisaical types and those who have persistently hard hearts still stands!

Jesus declared in John 9:5, ‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ He may be in heaven now preparing to return and we’re still here— and Jesus said about His followers that we are His light! (Matthew 5:14).

Paul confirmed this: ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.’

Jesus also reminded His disciples that ‘As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work’ (John 9:4). Let’s not waste precious time!

Jesus Comforts
In talking about sharing Jesus to others, especially those who are suffering, I remind us that Jesus always reached out to such with comforting words and warm arms as He did to that poor blind man.

This brings up an issue, a question I have for you, dear reader. Nobody likes pain, nobody likes suffering, nobody likes tragedy…. but have you ever considered that what you may be suffering now (or have suffered) can be used by God to comfort others?

We always say that the worst thing that could happen us is some disease! But… have you ever considered that God can use it to bring something really good out of it?

Well, I can think of a few things about suffering that can be used by God to become beneficial. For example, suffering—

(i) Conditions
For what, you ask?

Equipping us to minister to others who are suffering in some way or another! If you’ve never suffered in your life and never had a problem, what are you going to say to the person who is struggling deeply with pain or issues of loneliness or depression? There’s nothing there!

That’s why Paul wrote in 2Corinthians 1:3-4 that God is ‘… the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.’

Message Bible is very direct: ‘He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.’ 

So through Jesus God works in us, comforts us. We learn things, and having learned them, we’re now equipped to speak to other people to minister to them because we’ve joined that club along with them!

(ii) Consolidates
Hard times, suffering of various sorts, pain, tragedy consolidates, strengthens us. As James 1:2-3 says, we ought to count it all joy when we go through many trials of various kinds because the trying of our faith produces perseverance (hupomone… patience).

Now sufferings… trails, are not my choice, but I can understand what James was saying here about such. Verse 12 talks about being blessed and rewarded when we come through such times. Message Bible reads: ‘Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.’ 

So, experiencing trials of suffering and winning through with the Lord’s help strengthens us! Paul had a problem that he called a thorn in the flesh. Having prayed three times he still didn’t get the answer that he wanted. Rather he was told that God’s grace was sufficient for him (2Corinthians 12:7-10).

No more complaining by Paul, rather rejoicing— ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me’ (v10). ‘I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become’(Mge). 

No pain, no further problem is always great… but if the weaknesses continue, the Lord can enable us to persevere patiently and continue to live life! And— you may be weak but He will strengthen you in your problem and enable you to help others with theirs!

(iii) Corrects
God uses sufferings at times to get our attention and correct our steps. And to put us on the right path.

As the Jewish New Testament comments: We ‘… learn that sometimes God’s answer to prayer is not necessarily to grant the request as asked, but to change the person asking (2Corinthians 3:18), so that he no longer wants what he wanted before (2Corinthains 12:9-10).’

So think of it this way: Some things happen to you, to me, as we travel through life that we wish didn’t. But ‘… we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are the called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28NKJV).

Christians are ‘called ones.’ And you don’t know how long life’s going to be… at some point, the sun will set for us and life will be over. Which means all of the opportunities we have to do good will be over… so let’s do good today and every new tomorrow that we have from God! And with Jesus’ help comfort the needy.

Jesus Calms
Evil and suffering are not just topics to debate! Like Jesus calmed the storm (Matthew 8:23–27) we can calm the troubled, the sick, the suffering. We can share Jesus’ calming encouragement of ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’ (John 14:27).

We are to be like Jesus and have compassion on troubled people wherever we find them. Just like Jesus seeing that blind man and glorifying God by helping him, we too can be walking by someone with some need— and can take the opportunity to pray, comfort, becalm and bless them.

Some more words from Jesus— ‘I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretence of seeing will be exposed as blind’ (John 9:38Mge).

May we not miss opportunities to comfort and bless needy people by caring and praying for miracles… and introduce nonChristians to Jesus! And be glorying God!

Let our prayers for others be more profound that those kids’ examples above!

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Dr Richard Winter pastors The Connection Church, Huntington Beach, California. Link: OnlinerConnect@gmail.com  
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