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John 9 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. When you're ready, let's dive
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  into God's Word. Together
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  in John Chapter 9, Jesus and his disciples come upon a man who
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  was born blind. Listen to the question the
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  disciples asked Jesus. They say, Rabbi, who send this
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  man or his parents, that he would be born blind.
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  The disciples recognize the brokenness in this man's life.
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  This blindness is not right. Things are not as they ought to
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  be. And knowing that the brokenness
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  of this world is caused by the sin of man, they wonder whether
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  this man's sin, or perhaps his parents sin, resulted in him
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  being born blind. Jesus offers a gracious rebuke
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  of their way of thinking. Listen to his response.
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  It was neither that this man sinned nor his parents, but it
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  was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
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  Jesus is teaching his disciples a lesson on suffering and the
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  sovereignty of God. Yes, we live in a broken, sin
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  riddled world, a world full of disease and disability and
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  death. But Even so, we live in a world
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  where the gracious Almighty God of the universe is totally in
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  control. And not just that, we live in a
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  world where that same God is working all things together for
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  His glory and for the good of those who love Him.
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  And so Jesus can confidently say of this blind man that his
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  blindness is not just a result of happenstance, nor is it a
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  punishment placed on him or on his parents.
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  Rather, this blindness is meant to demonstrate the glory and the
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  power and the purposes of God. In this particular case.
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  What that means for this blind man, that is how God uses it for
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  His glory, is healing. Jesus spits in the dirt to make
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  clay or mud and rubs it on his eyes, and he tells him to go to
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  the pool of Siloam and to wash. And when the blind man returns,
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  he can see. This miraculous work of healing
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  demonstrates Jesus power, God's glory, and the reality that this
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  man's blindness was purposeful. It was meaningful.
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  But listen to this. Even if this man had not been
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  healed by Jesus, the same reality is true.
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  The suffering of God's people is never in vain.
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  Think back to the Old Testament to the story of Job, how God
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  allowed Job to experience terrible hardship at the hands
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  of Satan in order for God to both bring glory to himself and
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  for him to draw near to Job in his suffering.
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  The Apostle Paul was no stranger to suffering.
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  Read the New Testament. You'll find that he experienced
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  shipwreck, snake bite, stoning, arrest, flogging, the whole 9
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  yards. Listen to what the Apostle Paul
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  says about suffering in 2nd Corinthians 417 and 18.
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  For our momentary light affliction is producing for us
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  an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we
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  look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
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  are not seen. For the things which are seen or
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  temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
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  Do you hear that every bit of our pain, every bit of our
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  suffering in this life is being used by God in our lives to
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  produce something, to produce sanctification for us and to
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  ultimately produce glory to God as that sanctification is put on
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  display. In other words, when we allow
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  Him to work in our lives, God will always use our suffering
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  for our good and for His glory. He will always display His works
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  through our suffering. So if you find yourself
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  suffering hardship today, if you find yourself experiencing the
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  effects of a broken world, hand your circumstances over to the
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  Lord and allow Him to put the works of God on display in your
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  life as He works through your pain.