Acts 9:8 – Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. So his companions led him by the hand to Damascus. (NLT)

I'm not blind, but I fear being that way one day.

As a young, elementary-age student, I received the news that my eyesight was poor. I needed glasses. Since then, my eyes have progressively deteriorated. Every four years, the optometrist would tell me that I needed stronger glasses. Now, at fifty-seven, I suffer from chronic dry eye syndrome, near-sightedness, and possible glaucoma. Additionally, I have to wear bifocals. As a young child, I feared going blind. My fear is greater now than then. I muddle through most days with blurred vision, not because I need stronger glasses — the ones I have are new — but because the glands that lubricate my eyes are damaged beyond repair.

Paul's blindness had nothing to do with poor eyesight — unless this episode led to poor eyesight being his thorn in the flesh, as some have suggested. He was a staunch advocate of Judaism, hated this new sect called The Way, and spent his days hunting down Jesus followers. For him, they deserved persecution, jail, or death — until God blinded him so that he could see. He was similar to the other religious leaders that Jesus rebuked for their unwillingness to trade their legalistic blindness for the spiritual sight that He offered.

I may have come into the world physically sighted, but I was spiritually blind. God things weren't on my mind. Though at some point I recognized that there was something or Someone greater than I was, I never bothered to search out this Being until He blinded me, as He did Paul. Unlike Paul, I didn't actually lose my physical sight, but I did have to become blind to my own ambitions and wants so that I could see the true way. Paul did, too.

In Paul's blindness, the risen Christ spoke to him. He believed, and his sight was restored — literally and spiritually. From that moment, he became the greatest proponent of what he had once violently opposed.

Believing that I was a sinner who needed to see clearly — and then turning to Jesus Christ who paid for my sins — was the way that I received my sight. It's the only way that anyone can see.

Are you willing to go blind so that God can restore your sight?

Prayer: Father, we praise You for providing for our salvation. Blind us to ourselves, so that we can see Your plan and purpose. Amen.

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About the author:

Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA
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