Whenever I hear the line, “I once was blind, but now I see,” I can’t help but remember an experience I had about 11 years ago. I was home from college during summer break and feeling very discouraged. I was studying to become a pastor and was facing difficulties, wrestling with the age-old question, “Why do bad things happen when you choose to serve the Lord?” I decided to give up on my calling that summer because I couldn’t comprehend God’s intention in the mess. I struggled with reading my Bible and praying, upset with how God allowed things to turn out. I told myself in the darkness of my situation that running away from the call that God placed on my life would make things easier.
Lessons from a blind man
One afternoon, as I made my way back from the library, I encountered a gentleman who was blind and needed help crossing the street. I offered my assistance, and we engaged in a heartfelt conversation as we navigated the crossing. I told him, “You must have a lot of faith to trust a stranger like me, having never met me.” He said, “Yes, that’s true! People are generally nice, though, so I don’t mind asking for help from a stranger.” As we walked and talked, the gentleman eventually stopped outside a home and said, “Jermaine, this is my stop. It was a pleasure meeting you; thank you for your help.” I was taken aback and asked him how he knew it was his stop. The blind man responded, “You said it earlier—by faith!” Those words changed the trajectory of my life. It was as if the lights had been turned on, and I could see the path before me and the danger I was in. I thought, here was a man who knew where he was going without physical eyesight, causing me to reflect on my spiritual blindness while having my physical eyesight intact.
As I walked away, lost in thought, I suddenly remembered that I had been listening to music. I put on my headphones and heard the song “Amazing Grace” playing, with the lyrics “I once was blind, but now I see.” Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that I had been avoiding God and His plans for my life. I understood that I could only reach my destination if I had faith and trust in His guidance, despite the challenges I had seen that led to my giving up.
I learned then that how we see things often directly conflicts with how God works. Jesus stood in the synagogue one Sabbath morning and read from the scroll of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18, NKJV).The Bible tells us that those present, had their “eyes fixed on Him,” yet those very same people later in the day were ready to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28-29, NKJV). This single act on the part of the people shows us that there are spiritually blind people everywhere, including the church.
Types of blindness
According to Charles Spurgeon, humanity suffers from four different types of blindness.
First, he says, some people are physically blind—they have lost the ability to see with their natural eyes. Second, others are mentally blind—these are individuals who have no inner sight, lacking the ability to comprehend with the mind the things of God. Third, some are suffering from spiritual blindness—these are deluded and deceived souls who feel they are in the right while simultaneously committed to wrongdoing. Lastly, those who are consciously blind are those people who recognize their blindness and are ready to welcome Jesus into their lives.[1]
The gospel story is God’s attempt at healing men’s blindness. It was designed to shine brightly in our lives so that we can see clearly who God is and who we are as we come in contact with Him. John says, “In Him (Christ) was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5, NKJV). Moreover, in this same gospel story, we find a paradoxical effect, for, just like natural light dispels darkness, at the same it dazzles sight.[2]
Our greatest challenge is not just realizing that we are blind, but we must learn to get used to living in the light.
Light and darkness
During my regular appointments with my optometrist, I frequently observe her using a bright light to examine my eyes. She instructs me to look in different directions while shining the light into my retina to check for issues. Once, I inquired about the significance of light in her practice, and she explained, “Light is crucial because the eye is similar to a dark cave.” At the end of my visit, I receive a prescription for just the right glasses to help me see better. Yet, as much as my optometrist helps with my physical eyesight, she is not equipped to address my spiritual vision— only Jesus can do that.
Is it any wonder, then, that He enters our world as light? Praise God that “[t]he people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned” (Matt. 4:16, NKJV). Jesus brought light to our world, which was thrust out into darkness. Over the dark night of our existence, the “Sun of righteousness had risen with healing in his wings” (Mal. 4:2, NKJV).
Our greatest challenge is not just realizing that we are blind, but learning to get used to living in the light. The more we get used to the light, the clearer our vision will be. John says, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7, NKJV).
Losing our sight
Dwelling where the light is becomes the solution to our being prone to blindness. Ellen White mentions, “If we do not choose to give ourselves fully to God, then we are in darkness. When we make any reserve, we are leaving open a door through which Satan can enter to lead us astray by his temptations. He knows that if he can obscure our vision so that the eye of faith cannot see God, there will be no barrier against sin.”[3]
In another place she warns:
“Through persistently cherishing evil, willfully disregarding the pleadings of divine love, the sinner loses the love for good, the desire for God, the very capacity to receive the light of heaven. The invitation of mercy is still full of love, the light is shining as brightly as when it first dawned upon his soul; but the voice falls on deaf ears, the light on blinded eyes.”[4]
This was the challenge with the Pharisees who suffered from their severe spiritual blindness. They persistently cherished evil, disregarded the pleadings of Christ, and instead of love for God and others, their hearts were overwhelmed with hate. The opportunity for vision was present. “Had the Jewish leaders recognized their spiritual blindness and humbly come to Jesus for healing, they would have found it. But no one, not even Jesus, can help those who deceive themselves and shut their eyes to the divine light.”[5]
Additionally, they were so satisfied with the dim light they had that they couldn’t accept the greater light Christ brought. Thus, their failure to advance resulted in their retreat into the dark. Jesus concluded, “For judgment, I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (John 9:39, NKJV). The risk that we take when we refuse to accept God’s call into greater light is that the very light we reject will result in our becoming blind.
I praise God for the blind man who inadvertently pointed out the way I was supposed to go that day; that encounter forever changed my life. That evening, I went home, prayed, and recommitted my life to Christ. I booked my ticket to travel back to school, and the Lord opened my eyes to see one miracle after another. It was during this time that I tumbled on one of my favorite statements, which reads,
“When temptations assail you when care, perplexity, and darkness seem to surround your soul, look to the place where you last saw the light. Rest in Christ’s love and under His protecting care. When sin struggles for the mastery in the heart, when guilt oppresses the soul and burdens the conscience, when unbelief clouds the mind, remember that Christ’s grace is sufficient to subdue sin and banish the darkness.”[6]
The Light still shines in the darkness. May we fully turn our faces to its rays so that our blindness can be healed.
[1] Retrieved from https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-blind-befriended/#flipbook/.
[2] Rodríguez, Ángel Manuel, et al. Andrews Bible Commentary (2020), 1440.
[3] Ellen G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1896), 92.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Rodríguez, Ángel Manuel, et al. Andrews Bible Commentary (2020), 1440.
[6] Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing (Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Press Pub. Assn., 1905), 249.