Blinded to See - Martin Wiles

Series: The Things We Say

Saul picked himself up off the ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind. Acts 9:8 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 gotten worse. Every four years, the optometrist would tell me I needed stronger glasses. 

Now, at 56, I suffer from chronic dry eye disease, nearsightedness, 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 he could see. He was similar to the other religious leaders Jesus rebuked. Jesus told them they needed to be blind (spiritually) so they could see, but most of them wouldn’t trade the legalistic sight they had for the spiritual blindness they needed. 

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 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 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 once violently opposed. 

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

Be willing to go blind so God can restore your sight.

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

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