The Blessing of Sight

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” —Isaiah 42:16, NIV Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God. —Psalm 146:5, NIV

He stood there on the median, with his white cane raised, indicating his desire to cross the busy motorway. We could not stop without causing an accident, so I prayed that God would cause another vehicle to see him in time to stop and allow him to cross.

Or perhaps a passerby would come along and guide him to the other side of the busy street. Thoughts of the inability to see lingered with me, and I tried to imagine the difficulties sightless people experience daily. I could only conclude that they must cope with the help of God to navigate each day successfully. The ways of the omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God are past finding out. He takes care of all His children in each of their different circumstances. I thank God for enhancing the other senses of the physically blind, making a way to help them function effectively and live productively. I feel blessed to be able to see, and I give thanks and praise to God. As I do, however, I also think of how desperate it would be to have physical sight but be spiritually blind. To have spiritual sight is to be in Christ Jesus, the One who knew us from our mother’s womb. He is the One who guides and watches over us always. We lack nothing when we are in Christ because He makes us whole and supplies all our needs. I am therefore encouraged today, knowing that I have spiritual eyesight because I am in Christ Jesus. He is the One who “gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous” (Psalm 146:8, NIV). I praise God for lifting up those who are bowed down. I am grateful that out of the gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will one day be opened to behold Christ Jesus. On that day, we will all rejoice—all those “whose hope is in the LORD their God” (verse 5, NIV).

Elizabeth Ida Cain