Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.  And his disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him”

If you’ve ever struggled to understand why a tragedy or misfortune has happened in your life, you may ask yourself what the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man.

You may wonder “Did I do something wrong in a past life?”

When unexplainable misfortunes occur, I think it’s human for us to blame ourselves and feel guilty. 

You might even subconsciously look at yourself as a “bad” person. Or contemplate phantom sins and offenses you’ve committed. 

You might blow your past mistakes way out of proportion. And you might blame others for the roles they played in your life.

As someone who has battled anxiety disorders and depression, I’ve always wondered if there was something I did to deserve it. But as I began to understand the Scripture, I realized that suffering is a part of life.  And all suffering isn’t caused by sin.

If you get caught burglarizing someone’s home, you’ll go to jail…and it won’t be fun. So in some cases, sin does cause suffering.

But what about the things that are beyond your control? What if you were abused as a child? What if you were neglected? What if you experienced sudden trauma? What if you have a mental illness?

Whenever you find yourself thinking, “Why me?”, you have to pause and think about what Jesus said: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”

In other words, there’s nothing you could’ve possibly done that was so terrible that you can’t experience the love and power of God.

I’m sure the blind man and his parents did commit some type of sin in their lives. We all do.

But their sins didn’t cause the man to be blind from birth. God allowed him to be blind so that others could witness His amazing power!

And there’s nothing you did to merit unforeseen misfortune in your life, so don’t blame yourself. Resist the urge to be mad at God…He is a miracle worker! And miracles don’t come out of pleasant, perfect situations. They are birthed out of miserable ones.

So when you feel the urge to blame yourself or others for the things that have happened to you, stop. And think about God’s power. Ask Him for direction. And ask Him for acceptance.

When you move closer to Him, He’ll move closer to you. And He’ll move for you. Keep the faith and don’t let your mind be filled with guilt and shame.

God loves you!

Sincerely,

Alexia