I Can't See It // Human-ology Part. 8 // Dr. Dharius Daniels

Hallelujah! To God be the glory for the things he has done. Let's let's journey together to the gospel of John chapter number 9 beginning our reading at verse number 1. There's a brief conversation that I want to have with us from this text today. John chapter 9 verse 1. It says, As he went along he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? Neither this man or his parents sinned, said Jesus, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. I'm gonna stop the reading of scripture there and we're gonna teach from this topic in our time together. Y'all had a lot of preaching this weekend now. You got room for one more? I want to talk from this subject very simply. I can't see it. Clap your hands if you're ready to receive God's Word. I can't see it. I want to start this sermon with a statement that I'd like for you to take into consideration. Every human that is serious about their spiritual formation must be discipled on how to handle challenging situations where God will not give an explanation. Every human that is serious about their spiritual formation must be discipled, trained, mentored, taught, equipped on how to handle challenging situations where God refuses to give an explanation. I'm suggesting that disciples of Jesus must learn how to operate without receiving answers we prefer when God has determined that the answers you prefer are not answers you actually need. Hearing is why development in this area becomes essential, imperative, and important because many of us have been trained on how to respond when God speaks, but we have not been appropriately equipped on how to act when God is silent. And if I could make an honest admission in my attempt to communicate what is on my heart for this house today, a lot of my frustration with the Father isn't with what he says. It's what he doesn't. It's not in the answers I do get. It's in the explanations I don't. Therefore, we need to be equipped to engage with a God, listen to this, who has promised to reveal himself but is not obligated to explain himself. Because revelation and explanation are not the same thing. God has committed to making himself known, but he is not committed to making his decisions understood. And the enemy

understands this reality, so he uses the absence of answers as an opportunity to open the door to something called disappointment. And disappointment is the emotion you feel when there's a gap between what you expected God to do and what God actually did. And when disappointment comes through the door, it never comes through the door by itself. When disappointment walks through the door, he brings his cousins with him. And one of his cousins' name is Doubt. Because the enemy wants to use the disappointment to cause us to doubt. And I don't know if you have had any experience with this, but what I've experienced is this, when many people walk away from the faith or lose their faith, very rarely is it a result of a debate. More often than not, it's a result of their doubt. Doubting who God is, doubting God's nature, doubting God's character. And the enemy understands this reality and he uses it as an opportunity to exploit, watch this, our disappointment to push us into doubt, to push us into disillusionment. and for some of us to even push us into dysfunctional behavior. Therefore, we must be equipped to successfully steward seasons where we're dealing with some issues, but God won't give us answers. And for those of us that are wrestling with this reality, John chapter 9 serves as an incredible teaching tool to aid and equip us in successfully stewarding these kind of seasons and situations. John chapter number 9 introduces us to an experience that Jesus has with a blind man. I want the church to say blind. Come on, say it again. Say blind. Come on, one more time. Say blind. It's important for us to understand, family, that whenever we see literal conditions in the Bible, they can also be used as metaphors for spiritual conditions. So for an example, when we see individuals in the Bible who might be dealing with literal paralysis, it is a metaphor of God's ability not just to deal with literal paralysis, but metaphorical paralysis, because some people know what it is like to be stuck, not in your legs, but in your life. Come on, to be stuck in our relationships, to be stuck in our career,

to be stuck in certain mental states. And Jesus' ability to heal the immobile literally is also a revelation of His ability to heal our immobility metaphorically, so that wherever you and I are stuck, we can see the power of God manifest wherever we are paralyzed. This man is blind, and blindness for him means the absence of physical sight. Blindness for us means the absence of spiritual sight. And spiritual sight is the ability to see a thing the way God sees it. Are y'all here? I said spiritual sight is the ability to see a thing the way God sees it. Because here is the truth. It is possible for us to look at the same thing and not see the same thing. And some of our frustration with the Father is because sometimes God isn't doing what we think He should be doing. And the reason is He's not seeing what we think He's seeing. He's saying, we're looking at the same thing, but we don't see the same thing. You see a closed door as rejection. I see the closed door as protection. So you mad, I'm not mad, I'm not mad, I'm glad. Because what you mad about, I'm glad about. Because you think I restricted you from a blessing, I protected you from a trap. I'm not talking to anybody in the building that's honest enough to admit that there were some things in certain seasons you were initially upset about. And now when you look back in retrospect, you upset that you were upset because you see God was using the setback as a setup for a come up. Come on in here. He says we're looking at the same thing, but we don't see the same thing. So I'm not responding the way you think I should be responding because I don't see what you see in this. You see I'm behind schedule. Boy, if I had time. But I see while you walking up one side of the mountain, Abraham, I got a ram going up the other side of the mountain. And I'm not going to let you outpace your provision. I'm going to keep you at a steady pace so that you get to the right place at the right time

so that when you get there, the ram is there and you have what you need. Somebody ought to praise him, not for when he sped you up, but for when he slowed you down. This praise is because you didn't get me there when I wanted to get there. This praise is because you didn't give me what I wanted when I wanted it. Everybody knows how to praise God on a yes. I need about 18 of y'all to praise him on a no. I learned how to praise him on a no. So when you see God healing people from blindness, literally, metaphorically, the implication is it is God helping you see that the way he see it. It's not just, am I making sense? So this man, Tech says, is operating with the absence of sight. And whenever you don't have something, you don't have that something, and you also don't have what that something give you. So when you lose something, you don't just lose something, you lose what the something gave you. Because sometimes you don't even know what you lost until you lose it. Because you thought you were just losing that thing, and then you lost that thing, and when you lost that thing, you lost the things that thing was giving you. If I had time. Am I making sense? See, this is why sometimes it's difficult to discern whether something or someone is an asset or a liability until you lost it. Yeah, relationshipology is coming in June, July, stay with me, it's coming. Sometimes you don't know if, okay, now let me say this here, because I know some of us have, it's a little cringe, you cringe a little bit when I say asset or liability. I'm not saying someone is an asset or liability to God, right? So I'm well aware of every human is an image bearer of God, and we all have intrinsic and inherent worth and value. So we are all equally valuable to God. Got me?

Wall Street, off the street, equally valuable to God. However, just because we are all equally valuable to God doesn't mean everyone adds equal value to you. And wisdom enables you to discern difference. It takes wisdom to recognize rare. Y'all are not talking to me. The unwise erroneously assume that rare is regular. So they treat rare like it's regular because when it's regular, it's replaceable. That's going to help me preach. Yeah, regular is easily replaceable. Rare is difficult to replace. And it takes wisdom to recognize I can't wake up tomorrow and find another one of these. So I need to treat this as a unique gift that God has given to me once, and he is not obligated to give it to me twice. Because you don't know until it's not there. Y'all follow me here? You thought they were an asset, and then you lost them, and then you realize, I didn't lose nothing but a headache. Y'all, I like this section. This is where I'm going, right? Okay. I mean, you thought you were about to be broke up and just, and you're like, praise God. I just, I feel better. So much better since I laid. Because when you don't have something, you not only don't have what you don't have, you don't have what that brought you. When you lose something, you not only lose what you lose, you lose what it gave you. So when this man doesn't have sight, I don't want you to just see someone who doesn't have sight. I want you to see someone who doesn't have speed.

Because your sight affects your speed. Have you ever been driving in the rain and the rain is falling so aggressively that you have to slow down your pace because the visibility is limited. So your speed is restricted. And that is not just the case in the car. It is also the case in the kingdom. When visibility is limited, speed is restricted, but you go further. Clearer come on here when you know your turn you don't worry about missing your time Yeah, so so because he couldn't see he couldn't move as fast as people who could see So don't just see a man who lost his sight see a man who didn't have speed Don't just see a man who didn't have sight of speed see a man who did not have the kind of sanity that you do You Because your sight affects your sanity And I know some of you you can't relate to this because you you know God didn't give you the spirit of fear So you never have any sort of fear But but there are some of us who grew up and then we grew up and we can remember times when we were growing up We might have been home alone and let's say We home alone right and especially if it's at night Come on, and it seemed especially use a kid some of you right now even When you come on, yeah when you're home alone, it's at night. I don't know why the house get loud The house just start making noise you like what is and what do we do turn all the lights on? You Because you feel safer when you can see Can you imagine the paranoia He's having to live under because he can't see All I hear is footsteps You coming to hurt me or you coming to help me? I don't know because I can't see

Since I can't see I'm paranoid because I don't want to not protect myself from a threat Then at the same time I don't want to push back a blessing but because I can't see And let's be clear let's let's be honest being unclear does produce a degree of anxiousness I Want to make a decision and I'm unclear so I don't know what I don't want to make the wrong decision So I'm anxious because I gotta make a decision. So I'm anxious about that, but I don't want to make the wrong decision So I'm anxious about that So don't just see a man who can see see a man whose feet was at speed was Affected see a man whose sanity was affected see a man whose safety was affected Because when your sight is clear, you don't just avoid what's evil What's this you're also able to discern opportunity So he didn't have sight so he didn't have speed he didn't have the kind of sanity that you and I would have and He had to depend on others probably for safety That's the man that meets Jesus in the text and This man's blindness is a metaphor for the kind of problems you and I will often face I call them pregnant problems. He had one problem that produced three more He couldn't see That's one problem now. I got a speed problem Then he got a sanity problem Then he got a safety problem. Are y'all here? and Then he runs into Jesus And the disciples Asked this question Rabbi Who sinned This man or his parents that he was born blind It's so much to do with that. First of all, what do they call him?

Because he's not just a redeemer that gets you to heaven He's a teacher who shows you how to live on earth Does that make sense and many people never get spiritual sight because they want the Redeemer and not the rabbi Save me but don't teach me I Rabbi watch this watch this the disciples asked him rabbi This is important because I think I think there's some things we can learn from disciples in terms of what we shouldn't do as disciples But there are also things we can learn from disciples in terms of things that we should do as disciples Because the disciples often model what it means to be a good disciple. You know what they did here They asked what you see a lot in Scripture them asking they actually ask questions Am I making sense like they do a great job Jesus does a great job of showing what it means to be a healthy mentor From time to time they do a great job of showing what it is to be a healthy mentee What do you see initiation? What does this say? It says they free from the prison of pretension. I'm not trying to act like I know what I don't because I'm not trying to impress who've been assigned to help me. I'm not trying to impress you help me. I don't understand how to do this. Help me. I'm too old to learn everything through experimentation. If you already made the mistake, I don't want to help me. Notice the question who's seeing this man or his parents that he's born blind. What are they looking for y'all? They see an issue and they looking for an explanation. Here's the assumption. If they're suffering, there's got to be sin. Notice they didn't ask what happened. Do they?

They say who's seeing? They think they already know. Their assumption is somebody seeing who did it, Jesus. They looking for an answer because if it's suffering, it's got to be a reason, right? If something's going wrong, somebody must have done something wrong. If I'm in a predicament, it's got to be punishment. Now the question is why are they thinking this way? I want you to know they just didn't get this out of thin air. This is an informed opinion. It's inaccurate, but it's informed. They were taught this. They operated in that day, many of them was called a theology of retribution. The righteous prosper, the wicked suffer. So if you suffering, that if something's going wrong, you did something wrong. They had a God whose wrath was not attached to love. Did you hear what I just said? They had a God whose wrath was not an expression of his love. They had a, are you hearing what I'm saying? It's a theology of retribution that came from misinterpretation of scripture. Notice the question, who sinned, this man or his parents? Now the text says he's blind from birth. Is that right? So if I've been blind from birth, I didn't, it can't be prom, I didn't go like, what did I do? I sinned in the womb? Because bad theology will have you making absurd assumptions. And sometimes you don't know the absurdity of your assumptions until a third way challenges them. Something's going wrong because I did it wrong. That's what they're assuming.

Because it's got to be a reason. The relationship didn't work out, it's got to be a reason. The business deal fell through, it's got to be a reason. Clothes keep closing in my face, it's got to be a reason. Pain in my body, it's got to be, it's got to be a reason. So they say who sinned, this man or his parents? They're misreading Exodus 20, which talks about the visitation of iniquity to your children's children. And a simple word study, simple etymology would have corrected their theology. If they would have just looked at the word, what the word iniquity meant, if they just looked at what it mean, they wouldn't have came to that false conclusion. They would have saw that iniquity isn't even necessarily activity, that iniquity is an inherited, the word is crookedness or leaning. So it is this inherited orientation we have towards certain behavior. It's not the behavior itself, it's the propensity for it. It just means I'm leaning. It doesn't mean I fall, it just means in whatever area I'm leaning, it don't take much there. Are y'all okay? And watch Jesus' answer. We're trying to find the reason, and watch what Jesus says, neither. Neither this man or his parents sin. They got to be like, now wait a minute. Because what do they want? An answer. What do we want when we're going through John 9 experiences? An answer. I need to know why. And he says neither. So he tells them what is not, but then he doesn't tell them what it is. He just says, it's not this.

But he doesn't tell them what it is. Why me? Is it what I did? It's not that. What is it? That's all you need to know. Is it when I didn't do this? Is it when I didn't do that? It's not that. It could have been all of that, but it's not that. Neither. And doesn't give an answer. He says, but this happened, but, so he's talking about, he's not talking about causation here. He's talking about usage, but this happened. Not God made this happen. This happened. This is how God is going to use what happened. The works of God might be displayed in him. Now we're getting ready to have a grown folks conversation. Are y'all ready? I said, we're getting ready to go grown. Are y'all ready? So that the works of God may be displayed in him, not through him. The way I'm getting ready to use him is not through what he does. I'm not about to use his skill. I'm going to use his story. Be careful when you tell God to use you, because very often we want him to use our skill. And he's like, not only will I use your skill, I'm going to use your story. I'm going to let people know you are blind since birth. And then one day you ran into somebody like me and I picked you up.

I turned you around, I placed your feet on solid ground. He didn't use Lazarus's skill. He used Lazarus's story. We don't even know Lazarus's skill, but we know he stayed in that grave for days and Jesus got him out of his, so that you know, he can get you out of yours. And I came to tell somebody, he's setting you up to use your story. This is about to be a comeback story, a bounce back story, a this shouldn't have, couldn't have, wouldn't have happened story. Hallelujah. Sometimes he allows a crucifixion to be public because the resurrection is going to be public as well. He says, I didn't cause it. This is the consequence of living in an imperfect world where all of the created order is not aligned with God's original intent. So now even creation itself doesn't operate the way God intended. So fault lines shift and earthquakes happen and hurricanes and tsunamis and tornadoes and animals that you should have been in harmony with, like Adam in the garden of Eden are in enmity with each other and with you. And stuff that shouldn't hit your body hits it. And you're like, God, it didn't either. And I didn't cause it, but I'm going to use it. I'm going to use your story. I'm going to use your example. It's some stuff I'm not letting stay private. much. I'm, I'm a, because I'm a use it. This happened that the works of God might be displayed, platformed, amplified in him. God didn't cause it, but he used it for us. Here we are thousands of years later being encouraged by the story of a man whose name we don't even know. And the same God, they use him in this way is the God who also use us in this way. He uses your story. So here it is. Listen to me. You and I will not just have one, one John nine experience throughout your life. You're going

to have several John nines where there's a gap between what he doing and what you see. Lord, I heard what you said and you said no weapon formed against me shall prosper. And I believe you, but right here is giving prospering. That's too real. I heard what you said. When I'm confused, trust in the Lord with all my heart. Don't lean to my own understanding in all my ways, acknowledge you, you direct my path. So I'm trusting you. I'm acknowledging you. I'm still confused. I feel realness in this section right here. I'm like, I prayed and I'm still confused. And I called prayer partners. I'm more confused now after I talked to them. I heard what you said. I don't see it. You said healing is the children's bread. I'm your child. Where's the healing? I don't see it. It's John nine. And you and I are going to have some John nine experiences where there's a gap between what he's doing and what makes sense. And he refuses to give us an answer. So now I got to decide how will I handle that gap? Because God want to use that gap and the devil want to use that gap, but I determined who gets to use that gap. God wants to use it for spiritual formation. The devil wants to use it for spiritual deformation. I determined who gets to use it. So since God is not going to fill the blank with an answer, why they do me like that? Why did I go through that? Why me? Why didn't they pick somebody else? Why did you let this happen to me out of all people? This shouldn't have happened to me. I actually did what was right. I'm not saying it shouldn't have happened to anybody else, but I got a few people that I know. I don't want it to happen to anybody else, but if it happened to them, I would have understood. I'm not judging. I don't want it. I would have. I'd be like, yeah, I get it. But is this too real? Is this? Lord, I'm trying. I'm trying and I don't see it. So since you won't give me an answer, I have to choose what I fill that blank with. I can choose it with, to fill it with suspicion. I can choose to fill it with trust. And maybe this is why all throughout scripture, we're encouraged and commanded to trust because God is subliminally saying, I'm telling you to trust me because you're going to need to. I'm telling you to trust me because I know some answers you're going to want and I'm never going to give. I told you all things work together for good. I never told you, you would know the good that those all things are working. You just got to trust. that good is coming out of this that you don't even see. So what do I do when I want to answer God won't give me?

I choose to fill that blank with trust. And trust is actually the logical choice. It's an expression of faith, but it's actually quite logical because when you objectively look at your past or your track record and you see the consistency to doubt God is what's actually illogical. Doubt is what don't make sense. When you look at what you've come through and what you survived and the faithfulness of God. Doubt is what it doesn't make sense faith makes sense. So I got a trust in the text. They had to trust what God was going to do because if you read the rest of the narrative, here's what you'll see God didn't give them an answer. Look at pastor, but he did give him a solution. He never told him why but he helped him fix the what? So the father may not give you an answer, but here's what he will give you a solution. I'm not I'm not going to always tell you why you're in the condition that you're in. But if you'll listen to me, I'll give you a solution to handle the condition. You're in I'll give you a solution even when I don't give you an answer. Now you're going to pout about the answer or you're going to accept the solution. If you like me, I pout a little bit. Y'all too much for me. I can't do fake. This is I shake back. But something I'm like God. Why now? Why me? Why this? But in the text, the Bible says he spits in dirt makes the dirt mud puts mud on the man's eyes and then tells him to go to this pool called Salon and the Bible says the man went wash and came home saying he didn't tell the man. I'm putting this on you and I'm gonna heal you. He just put it on the man and say go to the pool of Salon.

So the man just had to trust he had to obey without any promise of an outcome. Lord, I don't know what you're going to do. You may heal you may not but I'm going and you may open the door you may not but I'm going you may turn this around. You may not but I'm going my obedience is not attached to an outcome. I trust that if you're sending me here, you're sending me here for a reason. So here I go. They had to trust the way God was going to do it. This man couldn't see but he had to hear when Jesus spit in that dirt. Here's a lesson. Sometimes we're going to wish God would do it in a cleaner way. Have you ever been going through something you like God? This is messy. But I got to trust that you use the mess. That's a messy miracle, but I got to trust the way you're doing. It is the way it needs to be done and it is messy and it is muddy and I don't like it. But the way you're doing it must be the way it needs to be done. I got to trust the way he's doing it. I got to trust where he's going to do it. He sent this man to a place called Salon and Salon means scent. So he sent him to scent. Because this is where I'm going to do this. And have you ever felt like Lord? I don't know why I'm in this place. Okay, my help is right here. Right along here. I'm getting ready. I'm going up to the balcony next week because that's what my. Here it is. Here it is. Don't miss this. Don't miss this. Have you ever just looked at life? I wonder how did I? Just wasn't on my vision board. God's like, you got to trust where I'm going to do this. Now Lord, yeah, this, this is the place in your life. I'm going to do this. I'm sending you to scent because this is where I choose to do it. Okay. And last but not least, he had to trust when God was going to do it. This man had been blind since birth, which means he probably had released himself of any expectation that he would ever see. He probably been blind so long he gave, oh my, he gave up on the possibility of something changing.

I feel something on that. And some of you almost I heard that almost some of you almost resign yourself to accept living without something forever because you live without it. So long. Blind since birth can be a metaphor for as long as you can remember. And some of us like past, I can't remember the last time I had joy. I can't remember. The last time I was, was not exhausted. I can't. I can't remember. This man had been blind since birth. But probably right when he accepted that he was going to have to live with this forever. Here comes Jesus to say, no, you're not. No, you are not. I'm about to do for you what you thought would never be done. I'm about to shift your expectation. I'm about to change your reality. I'm about to show you that it doesn't matter how long you haven't had it. When you run into me, I do something called unprecedented. I will do what hasn't been done before. And may God push you into a season called unprecedented. If you receive that, come on and raise your voice and thank our God for unprecedented. I want to pray for you. Because some of us, we in a John 9 right now. We're like God. I don't see it. But here's what I will do. I will fill that gap with trust. Because you've earned it. You not only deserve my trust. You've earned it.

Family, first of all, thank you for finishing the message. So many people start and they don't finish. I want you to know God's going to finish the work he's doing in you. I want to thank you for being a part of this YouTube family. I want to encourage you, if it blessed you, to send a message to someone else. And last but not least, if you believe in sowing back into the field you're harvesting from, ways to give are on the screen. Take care. God bless.