Asking the Right Question

When we’re faced with difficult situations in life, it’s always a good thing to ask ourselves questions.  Did some choice we made or behavior we’re engaged in get us to this point?  Is there something that we can do to change our circumstances?  Is what we’re dealing with because of a lack of fatih?

Questions are good, but sometimes even our best questions don’t always show us the right answers. 

In today’s reading from John 9, we find Jesus in the midst of performing yet another miracle.  This time the miracle is restoring sight to a blind man.  As the story begins, we see that Jesus has an encounter with a man who has been blind since birth.  The disciples ask a question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Seems like a good question.  Often our diseases and trials in life are a result of our sin.  Sin has consequences.  Sometimes we suffer greatly because of our own sin.  Sometimes we suffer greatly because of the sins of other people.  But we see that this was the wrong question in this circumstance, given the answer of Jesus in v.3: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned . . . but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” 

Sometimes we get stuck by asking the wrong question, or by asking too many questions.  Seeing God at work in our lives is the result of asking the right question.  We begin to see that there’s always a right question to ask when we look at the answer that Jesus gave.

“. . . so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

No matter what our circumstances – whether good or bad, whether blessing or consequence – there is always a right question to ask.  “God, what work would you do in this circumstance to display your glory in my life?”

The Gospel of John is a gospel of glory – it’s laden with talk of glory.  The glory of God is the manifest presence of God at work in our lives and in the world around us.  The glory of God shows up in those moments of awe and transcendence when we realize beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is with us, that God loves us and that God is working for our good in every circumstance when we love Jesus.

So many times we get stuck in the minutia of life, worrying about details that don’t matter and asking questions to which the answers really have no bearing.  As Jesus encountered this man, he was at work for one purpose – to display His glory in this man’s life.  Jesus finished his answer by saying in v.4, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.”

As long as Jesus is present, his greatest concern is revealing His glory in our lives.  His greatest concern is that our own lives – in all that we do, and the questions we ask – His glory might be displayed.  When you’re stuck; when you’re feeling trapped or hopeless; when things are great; when the blessings are flowing in your life; ask the question that’s always right.  “God, what work would you do in this circumstance to display your glory in my life?”