Clear As Mud

Sometimes we wonder more about the why and leave ourselves blind to the what.

Why? Why? Why?

Did your kids ever go through the stage of asking why about everything you told them to do? I remember several years ago when all three of my boys were little, I took them to Target. My middle son, Isaiah, who was six at the time and the most persistent boy in the whole world, would not stop touching stuff. He would touch something. I would tell him to stop. He would then ask, “why?” This happened over and over. I probably told him to stop 725,883,628 times, and every single time he asked me, “why?” Finally, I said it one last time, “stop!” Then he looked right at me with his big, beautiful blue eyes. He grabbed his own shirt, holding it out for me to notice and said, “Momma, I’m touching something.” It took everything I had in me not to pop him in the mouth, yet, just as much strength not to laugh at the wittiness he had obviously gotten from his father.

Like Isaiah, I’ve asked why a lot too. When he was young, I asked God so many times, “Why is Isaiah so persistent? Why can’t he just receive my no and move on? Why doesn’t he just stop trying? Why? Why? Why?”

As the years have gone by, this frustration of why that I often had when he was little is now opening my eyes to so many whats for his future. It has taken time, but I am beginning to see that my Isaiah will never stop trying and I love that about him. Rather than asking God why, I am now asking God what. “What great works are You going to do through this very persistent young man?”

Often, the question what can God do?, isn’t so clear. In fact, it’s usually clear as mud, making it easier to ask why? However, I find it funny that in John 9, Jesus uses mud to clear up some confusion for the disciples. Take a look at verses 1-7 with me.

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?” (This is the “why”). Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world’s Light.” He said this and then spit in the dust, made mud with the saliva, rubbed the mud on the blind man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “Sent”). The man went and washed—and saw.

The disciples’ focus in this moment was to figure out why the man was blind. Jesus’ focus was to help the man. To show the disciples and others watching what God can do through our trials.

The man didn’t know why he was blind. All he had ever known was darkness, and in this moment, The Light was right in front of him. Notice that Jesus never promises the man healing. Instead, He just spits in the dirt, makes mud, and rubs it on the man’s eyes. There’s never any exchange of words between the man and Jesus before the mud mask. The man couldn’t see what he was doing. Being blind, his sense of hearing was his dependence, so he likely heard Jesus spit.

Then after Jesus rubbed the mud on his eyes, He gives him instructions to go to the pool and wash. What is amazing is that the man just does it. Jesus gave him specific instructions to go to a certain place, yet he never questions Jesus. He never says, “Ew, did you just put spit on dirt and put the mud on my face?” He wasn’t offended by Jesus’ gesture, like we are offended so much in the world today. He just goes in faith and obedience. He never asked Jesus why.

The man didn’t have clear vision in the moment of what Jesus was doing. I imagine him full of hope. Once he was blind, but now he had faith that he was about to see!

There are times when life feels unclear. Like mud. Times when the journey of what is to come is unknown. It’s in these times, we need to stop focusing on the why and start focusing on the what.  Because it’s the what that can lead us to understanding.

Let’s stop asking, “Why is this happening to me?” And start asking, “What is God preparing me for?”

Let’s stop asking, “Why is this wait taking so long?” And start asking, “What is God planning for in this wait?”

Let’s stop asking, “Why can’t I be the one?” And start asking, “What does God have in-store?”

No more Why? Why? Why? Start asking What? What? What?

Believe in what God can do.