John 9:1-12…“The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’” vss.8-9
In John’s story the people had gotten used to the blind man sitting and begging in the street. They saw him every day, and they were comfortable with his presence. But when Jesus put mud on the beggar’s eyes and told him to go and wash their little predictable world was threatened. And when the man came back suddenly able to see, he almost became a threat. Some refused to believe it was the same guy. They got so upset they called in the religious authorities!
It can be disconcerting when God gets into our comfort zones and changes things around. If someone who has been a jerk and threat, suddenly begins to act in loving and caring ways we are suspicious and our internal radar senses a scam of some sort. But if we hang around Jesus we are exposing ourselves to the transformative presence of the Holy Spirit, and if scripture is a guide, most anything can happen.
So maybe it’s true that we “need to be careful about what we pray for.” The resulting changes might mean that further changes are going to be needed, and our whole worlds could soon be turned upside down. And the knowledge that “it’s all good,” does nothing to ease our discomfort.
Thought for the Day: Why is change uncomfortable?
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