Sweet Or Sour?

John 9:3 -- “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."

Reaching in with a long pair of chopsticks I pulled out a lump of chicken with a sticky, reddish syrup and a good amount of sesame seed clinging to the fork as a thick drip tried - but failed - to fall onto my plate. I love the sweet and sour experience. Especially if the experience has just been picked up from Wok-N-Roll. I'm a sucker for some really good Chinese Food and Wok-N-Roll has got my number...

When the wonderful tangy flavor of lemon, honey and sesame blends with the sharp taste of fresh shallots, a unique texture that rolls around on my tongue provides a wonderful burst of flavor. In an effort to keep up, my parotid glands cramp slightly and rapidly produce enough saliva to aid in the digestion of my food. It's slightly painful sometimes, but oh, so worth it. 

Sitting across from me, the love of my life mentions the lemon, the sharp, earthy twang of the shallots, the salt and the smokey oils in the sesame seeds. I look at him and mention the honey, the smooth, subtle and slightly sweet of the batter on the chicken and grin. The chicken he bit into came from the exact same cardboard carton than did mine - but being a super taster, my hubby can pick out more flavors than can I. And he can taste the bitter, even when the sweet seems to overpower the other more subtle flavors. [I adore that man on so many levels .... ]

The thing is, even though our food came from the same kitchen, the same take-out carton and though we both used the same utensils, we could each describe remarkably different flavors. 

In the book of John - when Jesus stopped to heal a man who'd been blind from birth he was presented with the question: why is this man blind? I think there had probably been much talk behind the blind man's back over the issue. Surly the blind man had done something terrible that warranted the harsh sentence to be born blind - but then again, since he was born afflicted, perhaps he was being punished for something his parents did. The two points of view among the community were both negative. But Jesus said to the eager beavers, it is not a punishment that this man can't see - it's an opportunity to proclaim the Glory of God. 

Well, THAT's not quite the angle from which the community had been ready to view the blind man's affliction. Maybe the blind man's life wasn't such a sour thing, after all - maybe, just maybe - it was sweet. A wonderful life that had been created with the express intention of providing a vessel for the miraculous and amazing handiwork of God through the grace and compassion of Jesus Christ.

Think about it! What is the first thing the blind man did after being granted his sight? He ran through town telling everyone about Jesus! The change in the man was not a small nor a subtle thing. There could be no denying that the blind man was healed. It was so obvious that people couldn't help but stop and SEE the glory of our Lord! From that point forward, I bet not one day went by that the previously blind man did not speak of the wonderful thing that happened to him.

So many times in our lives we are faced with some pretty sour experiences. Often the question "what did I do?" pops into mind. But what if our sour grapes aren't the fruit of a negative behavior? What if they are the perfect thing to make a sweet and priceless glass of wine? Now you see, the wine would not be the perfection that it is without some change. Jesus gives us that change. And while yes, the growing pains can be somewhat uncomfortable - down right agonizing at times - the end result is oh, so worth it.

It's not always about the negative. In fact, I'm willing to bet that it's more often all about the AWESOME God we serve.