August 21, 2018
The Bible tells the story of a man who was blind from birth. It becomes the story … of a miracle.
One day Jesus passes by a blind man. His disciples point to the guy and say, “What’s with that guy? Someone must have sinned big time to make God mad enough to do that to him! Who sinned – him or his parents?”
Jesus says, “What do you mean, ‘Who sinned?’ You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. Instead, focus on what God can do in this man’s life.”
Jesus smiles brightly, a confident smile, a winning smile. He says, “You’re going to get to see God work a miracle in him! He may be trapped in darkness now … but I am the Light of the World!”
I need to stop seeing myself as a victim and quit the blame game. What’s the first thing the disciples did when they saw the blind man? They said, “Who’s to blame for this?” Verse 1: Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for” – what? – “someone to blame.”
I know a lot of people like that. They spend their life looking for someone to blame. Maybe someone hurt you. Someone did something to you. Now you’re telling yourself, “I’ve got these problems, because of them. My life isn’t what it should be, because of them.”
You will never, ever fix your problems by blaming someone else. The sooner you accept that, the sooner your life gets better. Today God wants you to stop seeing yourself as a victim.
Perhaps you’re thinking, But, Jeff, I am a victim. Maybe somebody physically or emotionally abused you as a child. Maybe a drunk driver took away somebody you love. Maybe somebody walked out on you, betrayed you, or broke your heart. You’re thinking, Jeff, I am a victim. My life will never be the same again.
Okay, that’s the hand you’ve been dealt; now you have to decide how you are going to play that hand. Maybe you didn’t choose what happened to you, but you can choose how you will respond to it. You, and only you, can choose your reaction to the events of your earlier life.
Is it fair what happened to you? No. Is it fair that you have to deal with that? No. Is it fair that you have to live with the hurt and manage it for the rest of your life? No. Are you nevertheless accountable for how you live with it and manage it? Absolutely.
There was a famous tightrope walker, who came from a family of seven generations of tightrope walkers. He was asked, “What is the key to walking on the tightrope? You make it look so easy.”
He said, “The secret is to keep your eyes fixed on where you’re going. You never look down. Where your head goes, that’s where your body is going, too. If you look down, there’s a good chance you will fall. So you always look to where you want to be.”
It’s the same principle in life. Some people are always looking back, focused on their hurts and pains. Other people are looking down, living in self-pity, and complaining that life is not fair. The key to moving forward is to keep looking where you want to go. The past is over. You own today. Take ownership of your life. Start looking to where you want to go.
What does God want me to see? I have to stop seeing myself as a victim …and start seeing myself as a victor.