Okay. we get that. We don't always like it, but we get it. But let's take this topic of trials and God's purposes one step further. One of the classic examples in the Scriptures of the purpose of trials is found in John 9. As Jesus is traveling with his disciples, he encounters a man who had been blind since birth. The disciples pose a question to the Lord: who is to blame for the man's blindness? Was it because of his sin, or perhaps his parent's sin? This is a perfectly logical question, because sometimes there is a correlation between sin and difficult circumstances.
But the disciple's question also reveals a deficiency in their thinking. They imagine that this trial must be the result of sin. They don't seem to allow for any other possibilities. In posing this question, the disciples reveal an inadequate understanding of both God and His purposes and methods as well as the purpose of trials. Helen Keller is famous for saying, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but not vision." The disciples could see, but they needed to have their vision of God enhanced. Jesus, the "light of the world," does just this (John 9:4). He corrects this deficiency in their understanding, and in doing so, he blows open their neatly-packaged theological systems. And ours as well.
Jesus tells His disciples that sin was not the reason for the man's blindness. Rather, his condition existed "so that the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:3).
I can imagine that at this moment the disciples stopped in their tracks and did a double-take at their Master. What in the world does this mean? They could understand blindness as a consequence for sin, but Jesus specifically denies that as the reason in this case. It has nothing to do with sin. Rather, it is for the purpose of revelation. This man has endured this trial all these years in preparation for this very moment, so that "the works of God might be displayed in him." In His providence, God had permitted this incredibly difficult trial so that, in an encounter with the Lord Jesus, the glory of the works of God might be publicly portrayed in such a way that people would realize that Jesus is who He claims to be--the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
Texts like this have a way of shattering our preconceived notions of how God is "supposed" to do things. Is our category for God big enough to handle what Jesus is revealing about our Father and His purposes?
Consider the trial that you may be enduring right now. You have prayed and scoured your mind to try and identify and confess any sin that might be the cause of this trial. You have tried everything but you can't do anything to change the circumstance. You know that you are to find joy in the midst of the trial, but joy seems out of reach. Is it possible that you, like the disciples, need the doors blown off your understanding of God and His purposes?
Perhaps what you are enduring has a greater purpose than you have been considering. Perhaps God has allowed this situation or this person or this issue into your life so that He might use you to display His works to others. Could this change your perspective? Could it cause you to look at the trial--and God--in a new and greater way, knowing that God is at work in you and through you to display His power? Perhaps even change your prayer from "Lord, please remove this trial," to, "Lord, please use this trial to reveal Yourself through me."
And as we begin to comprehend that God uses trials in this way, an amazing thing is produced in the midst of our trials: joy. Joy in the knowledge that God is the Author of our lives. Joy in the realization that this trial may be used by the Lord to reveal Himself to others. And joy in the acknowledgment that our God is far bigger and greater than what we have imagined Him to be.
