Blind Sight

"As he went along, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent him. . . While I am in the world, I will be the light of the world." [John 9:1-4]

How many times have bad things happened to us and we agonize, ' What did I do to deserve this?!'

I have faced some of the roughest things in life: deprivations in childhood, medical neglect, abuse, bullying, a fire, a flood, a near drowning, a suicide in the family, the ravages of alcoholism in the family, a horrific crime against me that nearly cost me my life, trees coming very close to falling on me, a long and agonizing wait to becoming a parent, the loss of a best girlfriend to cancer.

I have at times felt like Job! But I never cursed God! God, in His infinite love, would never DO this to his children.

So, how to explain evil? Or the bad circumstances that can happen to us, like the man born blind? If there is a God, people question, 'How can He let these things happen to us?' Or, worse yet, 'Has God forgotten me? Does He hate me for something I have done or not done? '

I see God as grieving when we sin, the way any parent would if a child did very wrong. As a loving parent, God would never forget us, or hate us or give up on us.

The opportunity for sin comes from God's gift of Free Will. We have the choice to behave lovingly or sinfully. We cannot prevent others from sinning against us. Nor can we prevent bad things from happening to us.

So people ask, 'If God is so all-powerful, why can't He prevent sin against us? Or bad accidents? ' This is a tough one. The only thing I can think is that, if God took away all sin and accidents, He would be removing our Free Will. He would be turning us into His robots.

But I do not want to lie down and give up in the face of all the bad things happening around me. I think I am too much of a fighter to always absorb the dark spaces or to walk away. Maybe that fighting spirit is how I survived so long under such difficult circumstances.  Something in me will not allow me to accept things as they are. That is not good enough, I say, I want a better world!

In Ephesians 5: 8,  Jesus says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are the light of the Lord. Live as children of light. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them." This reminds me of Jesus in the desert. He does not shy from evil, nor does He hide, He confronts it with the help of the Holy Spirit. But He also does not dwell there, in that dark place, He passes through.

For me, dealing with evil is a process of countering those dark places with goodness, with justice, with Light. It is a daily strategy of fighting the darkness, so that the Light will prevail. It is my Way, my Truth, my Life!

God, I want to BE the light, a light so bright that I outshine the darkest recesses of the world!

As I confront evil, I may be damaged by it but my wounds only open me to receive God into my heart. Help me to truly believe that, even if sorrowful or tragic things occur, they happen so that I may see the power of Your divine work in my life.

(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.