Perspective

 Is it the face of a woman or flowers and a butterfly?  It's all how you look at it. 

John 9: 1-3

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

When confronted with a person with an illness or disability, the gut reaction of many is to internally ask, “What did he do to deserve this?”  I know as a mom of a child with challenges I used to ask myself, “Is this some sort of penance or payback?”  When we feel this way, there are a lot of negative emotions at play and where there are negative emotions, there is bound to be negative behavior, affecting everyone involved.

 What if we could learn to see our situation as Jesus sees it, “This happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life,”?  If we perceived that the illness or disability was an open door for God to reveal Himself, we might start looking for the blessing, for the spiritual growth, for improved relationships, for the joy of love and service.

 We live in a world where illness and disability are perceived as bad, but we serve a God who can make all things work together for good for those who love Him.