"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
So asked Jesus' disciples as they passed a blind man in the street. The disciples were expressing a typical attitude of the time that this situation must be the result of sin, the man or his family must have done something to displease God. Jesus pushed back on this assumption, suggesting that then man's disability was not connected to his standing with God. Instead it presented a space in which the goodness of God could be demonstrated.
As Jesus followers we are free then to pray into people's differently-abled lives without connecting their diverse conditions of body or mind to sin. We are also free to exercise faith regarding what healing might look like for that person. What about the person we pray for whose condition at face value does not change at all?
God is still working in their life. Apostle Paul brings a useful perspective; in 2 Corinthians 12 he speaks of a thorn in the flesh which in spite of repeated prayer God did not remove from him. Indeed, God's words to Paul were; “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
We pray always for God's intervention, but God's freedom is to intervene as God sees fit, physically or spiritually. As with Paul, we may gain perspective and strength in wrestling with the challenge we face.
It was perplexing recently to hear of a pastor attributing the recent floods and storm damage in Aotearoa to a particular sin in a geographical location. In order to do this one needs to completely ignore the New Testament teaching of Jesus and dwell entirely in the Old Testament culture. My own view is that he disaster has given opportunity for people of faith and others to give and serve and pray for their fellow human beings in ways previously unimagined. Something to think about.
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