On a mission trip to Sierra Leone, West Africa, my wife and I left the capital city and traveled east in-country to a tiny village named Yonibana. It was so small that there were only 3 buildings on the main road. Off road there were school buildings and churches but mostly traditional huts. At night, there was one street light. The light was not mounted so high, so one needed a flashlight to wander about. Unlike U.S. cities, the area was exceedingly dark. It was considerably darker than we were used to.
There was a similar walk that had less light. The 9th Chapter of John describes a man born blind who encountered Jesus. In conversation with his disciples, Jesus felt led to work with the blind man.
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” 3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. 7 He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing! 8 His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!” But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!” 10 They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” 11 He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”
He didn’t talk about the inconvenience of going.
He didn’t complain to Jesus that he didn’t know where the pool was.
He didn’t insist on a “seeing eye dog”
What was it that drove him to make that walk? It is entirely possible that he had never or rarely been to the pool. How did he get there?
He didn’t come up with all the reasons he couldn’t go.
He couldn’t see but he had a vision of the prize.He was not deferred by the hazards of the journey. The distance to the pool was more than a mile; where is your faith?
