A year ago we started this blog asking for prayer for Sarah.  We truly were at an all time low and not sure what to do.  We asked for prayer and it has been AMAZING!!!  Thank you!!  Seeing our Prayer and Praises this month (from what it was a year ago), it brings me to tears!  Let me say: THERE IS POWER IN PRAYER!!  We are so grateful to you!!  You have been so supportive of this blog, our journey and we know you are praying!!

Thank you for letting me share what is on my heart and what the Lord is teaching me on this journey!  Bless you for reading this blog! 🙂 Here is Part III (and the last one-promise!) of John 9.

__________________________________________________

As you know I have been working through John 9 about the blind man healed by Jesus and how his life was a work of God displayed.  People wondered if it was him or his parents who sinned, therefore he lived his life with a sense of condemnation.  When his parents were questioned by the Pharisees about his healing they were fearful they would be thrown out of the synagogue and they deserted him and left him to defend himself.  The healed blind man stood alone in front of the Pharisees and what his parents feared happened. The healed blind man was thrown out of the synagogue, excommunicated and rejected.

This poor man!  His entire life he felt nothing but shame and ridicule.  Even when he was healed, he still was not accepted.  His community, even his own parents, still rejected him.  His best day, the day he had been praying for all his life but never truly believe could happen, turned out to be a day of heartbreak.  A major high followed by a gut wrenching low. Once again, he was shunned and alone.  This is why I love John 9:35-37:

“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out (of the synagogue), and when He found him,

He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is He sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I might believe in Him.”

“Jesus said, “You have now seen Him, in fact, He is the One speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped Him.”

It comforts me that when Jesus heard of this injustice, He acted.  He didn’t shake His head in disgust when He heard that the Pharisees did this and then go along with His day unmoved and unchanged. He went out searching for this man.  Jesus, our Lord, responded and reacted to go after the brokenhearted. I imagine our Lord weaving through the crowd trying to maneuver His way in order to reach this man.  He pursued him and when He found him, gave that man a purpose and a place to belong.

The same Christ that went searching for that man seeks the brokenhearted still.  I am thankful that when we feel heartbroken, shame, ridicule, rejection, or confusion, we have a Savior that doesn’t shake His Head and say, “What a shame!  Oh, that poor person!”  No, He acts!  In His compassion, our Lord pursues us and when we allow Him, He removes all that baggage that holds us down and restores us.   It truly is a work of God displayed for all to see!

Pursued by Christ!  What a picture of love and mercy!

Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”