At the very beginning of the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus and his disciples came upon a man blind from birth. The disciples immediately jumped to the conclusion that it must be sin that caused such a bad condition. They asked Jesus if the man’s or his parents’ sin caused him to be blind. That conclusion was not new. Job’s friends concluded that it was Job’s sins that caused his severe losses and physical suffering. God and Job both knew that was not the case. Jesus explained that it wasn’t anyone’s sin that caused the man to be born blind. It happened so that God’s healing power could be demonstrated by his healing.
About eight years ago, I was healed from chronic sciatic nerve pain when my men’s group from church prayed for my healing. A short time later my Christian brothers prayed for my arthritic knees to be straightened and healed. That condition has not changed. My brothers in Christ immediately assumed I was somehow blocking that healing. God and I both know that is not the case. When I prayed for the answer, I got the same answer Paul got when he asked for the “thorn in his flesh” to be removed: “My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is manifest in your weakness”. If I had two good legs back then, this blog would probably not exist as I would have been out attending and doing instead writing and sharing His message. Just goes to show that some things never change. Sin isn’t always the cause of our trials, but faith in God and a life of service to Him are always the answer.