With no money for college, James applied to the Naval Academy - - only to be denied admission. However, he was told of a program where the military would pay for him to get a two-year engineering degree in exchange for a hitch in the Navy. After studying at the University of Wisconsin, James applied again to the Academy and was accepted. After the Academy, he began his military career as a navy test pilot.
During one of his test bombing runs, while stationed near China, Jim was developing flight techniques to be used for dropping nuclear bombs. Thick clouds rolled in and the mission was aborted. Unable to see, he was totally dependent upon his instruments.
In his words, Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks in Ron Howard's 1995 Movie "Apollo 13") described that experience in a televised interview. Take a look:
Jesus happens upon another man, like Lovell, in need of direction. The 9th chapter of John's Gospel starts like this: "As he (Jesus) went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Teacher, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" I'll save our Lord's response for later.
Like Jim Lovell, this man is in a bad situation, and, also like Lovell, it seems to get worse. Jesus spits in the mud, puts it on the man's eyes and sends him to wash it off. Obediently, the man does so and when he did, he was no longer blind.
Well, you say, that just sounds like bad situation to good situation. And you would be right, if we just existed as physical beings. But, you and I are more than that. Much more. And so was this man. Jesus' purpose was to get to the heart of the man. And, in this respect, it got worse - - much like Lovell's lights & instruments failing just when he needed them.
Here's why: His friends and family, who should've been tickled pink, doubted he was who he said he was. His response: It's me. Then, just when he thought he needed them, they interrogate him, as if he's done something wrong. His reply is to recite the facts: The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. So, I went and washed, and then I could see."
But they didn't stop there. They ratted him out to the religious police -- who grilled him. His answer to them: He re-states the facts and when asked for his evaluation of Jesus he says, "He's a prophet."
Not satisfied, the Pharisees bring in his parents who promptly toss their son to the wolves with: "We don't know. He's a grown man. Ask him."
Now, questioned again, insulted, belittled, and threatened, they demand that he renounce Jesus as a sinner. Being a man, he stood his ground and re-told the truth. As for renouncing his healer, he said, "He is a godly man." And they threw him out and he was looked upon as dirt by his own people.
Friends - deserted! Neighbors - gone! Parents - nowhere to be found!
But Jesus heard about it. And verse 35 says, "...and when He found him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man (another way of saying "Savior")?"
"Who is He, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in Him."
"You have seen Him; in fact, He is the one speaking with you."
Then, the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped Him.
Just when the man thought life was turning around, with the receiving of sight, the world dealt a severe blow. Everyone he had relied on, and had thought he needed, had bailed. Yet, through all this - - and because of all this - - we can see his journey from unbelief to belief in his responses about Jesus:
First, it was just the facts.
Then, "He's a prophet."
Next, "He's a Man from God."
And finally, to Jesus: "Lord, I believe."
Oh, yeah. Jesus' reply to his disciples' questions about who to blame for the man's blindness: No one. This happened so that God could display his work in his life. (John 9:3)
God is at work in your life. You never know what's around the next turn. But, no matter what it is, God is Semper Fidelis - - Always Faithful. Don't miss the green carpet God has laid out in front of you.
"You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home."
This is Challenge Pointe.
Semper Fidelis,
Doug
