The Blindness Caused by Suffering

I save all the devotionals I have completed and frequently re-read them when I feel compelled.  One I have previously read tells the story of a group of Rabbis who could not agree on the meaning of 1Thessalonians 5:17 that states, “pray continually.”  While on her knees scrubbing the floor, the maid spoke up and gave an account of her prayer with each of her activities during the day.  Remarkably, her prayers were for others and building up God’s kingdom rather than her circumstances.  The devotional says the Rabbis were amazed at her great wisdom.

Though I have read this devotional many times before, God used it on this day to reveal my selfishness and inability to see others who have hurt me with the same compassion that I desperately long for.  Deep pain makes a person blind to the needs of those who caused their suffering, and they become the judge and jury.  Profound sorrow gives the devil a foothold that causes blindness to everything outside of self.  There is no justice in this state of being, but God is able and willing to heal the brokenness and deliver us from all that is evil.

God is able and willing to heal our brokenness and deliver us from all that is evil.

God instructs me to pray for those who hurt me because it is hard to be angry and pray for someone simultaneously.

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