_MY BODILY INFIRMITIES_
JOHN ix. 1-12.
An infirmity becomes doubly burdensome when we give it a false
interpretation. The weight of a thing is determined by our conception of
it. If I look upon my ailment as the stroke of an offended God, I wear it
like the chains of a slave. If I look upon it as the fire of the gracious
Refiner, I can calmly await the beneficent issue. It is my Lord, engaged
in chastening His jewels!
And so our Master first of all relieves the blind man of the false
interpretation of his infirmity. "_Neither did this man sin, nor his
parents._" That lifts the sorrow out of the winter into the spring. It
sets it in the warm, sweet light of grace. It becomes transfigured. It
wears a new face, placed there in "the light of His countenance."
And then our Lord relieves the blind man of the infirmity itself. The
ministry of blindness was accomplished, and sight was given. No man is
kept in the darkness a moment longer than infinite love deems good. Our
Lord does not overlook the prison-house, and leave us there forgotten. "He
that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." So cheer thee, my
soul! The Lord is on thy side! The Miracle-worker knows His time and "the
dreariest path, the darkest way, shall issue out in heavenly day."