I have always loved the scripture in John 9 and especially verses 1-3. In these verses Christ and his apostles walk past a blind man and Christ is asked, "who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" (vs 2) This didn't seem like an unusual question to be asked back then when it was commonly thought that people with physical or mental handicaps were somehow cursed by God and that people with physical disabilities also had mental disabilities. Christ answered the apostles question saying, "neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (vs. 3). I can imagine the apostles being really confused by this response but then the Savior spat in the dirt and made a clay with which he covered the man's eyes. The blind man went and washed his eyes and returned with his sight in tact.
The part of this that I find interesting is the Savior's response to the apostles question. This blind man was born blind so the "works of God should be made manifest in him", but what about the thousands of people before and after Christ's mortal ministry who were born blind? For what purpose were they born with this physically limiting disability, not to mention the hundreds of other physical and mental disaabilities people are born with everyday? Through study and thought I believe that these other people were born blind for the same reason as this man that was healed by the savior.
Now, you're probably wondering how people can be born blind and, for the most part, never be healed and still be born for the works of God to be made manifest? There are other instances in the scriptures where people have physically limiting hanidcaps are weaknesses that cause them to believe they are limited. Moses and Enoch both make mention that they are "slow of speech" and that this would probably make it hard for them to lead God's children as a prophet (Exo 4:10-12; Moses 6:31). Paul mentioned that he had been given a "thorn in the flesh" that he "besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart" from him (2 Cor 12:7-8). Moroni felt as if his perceived weakness (awkwardness of hand and weakness in writing) would lessen the effectivness of The Book of Mormon amongst the gentiles (Ether 12:23-24).
In each of the above cases the Lord comforted of strengthened them. In responce to Enoch the Lord said, "go forth and do as I have commanded thee. . . Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good" Moses 6:32). It is interesting to me that the Lord didn't tell Enoch to spit in the dirt, make a clay, anoint his tongue with the clay, go wash it off and he wouldn't have to deal with the problem again. Afterall, that is what he did for the blind man in John 9. Moses' case is a little different. Right before Moses brought his physical weakness up to the Lord he had witnessed the Lord seemingly effortlessly manipulate physical objects. The Lord turned Moses' rod into a serpent and then back into a rod and then he made Moses' hand leprous and then healed it (Exo 4:1-9). After witnessing such an impressive display of power of physical objecys you'd think that Moses would have not even had a second thought about his weakness. The Lord has the same response to Moses as He did to Enoch but Moses complains and is given Aaron as his spokesman. Once again, after hearing the future prophet's concern the Lord chooses to provide comfort but does not heal him.
In Moroni's case the Lord says, "fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness. (Ether 12:26)" Here the Lord tells Moroni to not worry about his weakness in writing and that the Lord's grace will cover his weakness. After hearing this Moroni says, "and I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted". The Lord did not say that he would make Moroni mighty in writing but that His grace would cover whatever Moroni lacked. In 2 Corinthians 12 Paul intorduces the idea that sometimes we are given "thorns in the flesh" to humble us so we don't become "exalted above measure" (vs. 7). As was brought up earlier, Paul asked God three times that his "thorn" would leave him and the Lord responded, "my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (vs. 9). Again the Lord hears the plea from Paul to heal him but he chooses not to heal him and instead teaches Paul that His grace will cover what he is incapable of accomplishing due to his "thorn". Really isn't this saying that with God's grace we are capable of anything?
So how does this apply to the blind from John 9? One difference that I could observe is that the blind man did not go to God complaining of his disability. Christ came to him and choose to heal him instead of saying that whatever the man lacked, the grace of God would make up for. So what about the other blind men? Why were they born blind? Like I said before, I believe that they were born blind for the same reason. . . .that "the works of God should be made manifest in [them]". I believe that there is something holy about enduring trials or temptations whether it is physical, mental, emotional, etc. To endure a trial doesn't mean that we just sit around and wait for it pass all the while complaining about it. Enduring means that we are constantly striving to improve and learn from the situations we find ourselves in, even if sometimes a noticable improvement cannot be recognized. Elder D. Todd Christopherson said, "perhaps. . .we should pray for time and opportunity to work and strive and overcome. Surely the Lord smiles upon one who desires to come to judgement worthily, who resolutely day by day to replace weakness with strength. Real repentance, real change may require repeated attempts, but there is something refining and holy in such striving" (Ensign. Nov 2011 pg 39).
I think that as we strive to overcome, or even just endure, something that we gain a special appreciation for others that have to endure similar things. Elder Hugh B. Brown said, "If we banish hardship , we banish hardihood. One man's dissolution may be another's inspiration. The same exposure to pain, misery and sorrow that coursens the mind and callouses the soul of one may give to another the power of compassionate understanding and humility without which mere acheivement becomes primititve." This is not saying that we need trials and handicaps to develop compassionate understanding and humility. Christ had sympathy if not empathy for the bling man, lepers, widows, and the homeless even though he didn't go through all of those things during his mortality. That is like saying that we can learn certain things only by living a life of rebellion and then coming back to the fold. The problem with that logic is how would Christ know all things never having led that life of sin? Christ learned all things by the Spirit and by the atonement. He knows how hard it is to repent of sins; he knows how hard it is to have a child die; he knows how hard it is to suffer with a severe physical abnormality. And He knows these things through the Spirit.
I believe that there are certain things that the Lord wants certain people to learn in this life and I think that giving someone a particular trial is one of the ways that he accomplishes it. We certainly can learn it by the Spirit but if the Lord wants someone to develop compassion or empathy he can give them something to struggle with and in turn they can learn to have compassion for someone is a similar circumstance. Elder Neil A. Maxwell said, "there are some things allotted to us in our life that have been divinly fashioned according to our ability and capacity. When we see individuals coping with what seems to be a tragedy, and making of it an opportunity, then we begin to partake of the Savior's deep wisom in his response concerning the blind man." This takes us back to the blind man. What about developing this "compassionate understanding" is making God's work manifest in that person? God's "work and glory is to bring to pass the imortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). One way that this can make manifest the works of God is by helping the 'blind man' to become charitable. Having charity is one of the most important things that we can develop in this life and we can even think of it as being an essential attribute for exaltation (see 1 Cor 13 and Moroni 7). Having to deal with trials in this life can help a person develop the qualities necessary to live with God.
Having charity can be such a blessing to others as well. Christ blessed countless lifes simply by feeling love for the unfortunate people of the world. Christ, of course, sacrificed his life for all of us so that he would know how to succor his people, but what we sometimes overlook is that he spent his life doing the same, learning how to succor his people. Arthur R. Bassett said, "though the socially elite of his time sometimes sought him, he did not exclusively seek them. His interest seemed to be in the down-trodden, the unfortunates of his world. . . .I marveled at his great personal resource, at his strength demonstrated in his willingness to be stripped of all power, prestige or position so that he might more fully comprehend human experience at its humblest levels. . . .How appropriate that the Savior of mankind should understand life at its most basic level, that he should know intimately the soul of the suffering one". Christ humbled himself to understand the soul of the suffering one but sometimes the Lord feels so inclined to humble us to force us to learn a lesson that came so naturally to the Savior of mankind. When we have charity and love for others we can play that role that the Savior would play in people's lifes if he were here.
Another way that this principle can make God's work manifest is that when we have these limitations we feel as though it is impossible for us to be saved. It humbles us. It makes us realize that we are absolutely dependant on God for our own salvation. This is a beautiful and life-saving realization. We can only do so much and God will make up the rest. In Doc&Cov 121-122 we hear a lot the trials that Joseph Smith and the saints have been going through. The Lord does not say that in order for them to gain exaltation that they need to overcome all of these things but he says that if they endure their trials well, God shall exalt them on high. If we endure these sometimes "divinely fashioned" trials well then God's grace steps in, for God has already overcome all things. Is there a better example of God's work being made manifest than his grace being used by his children to overcome trials by enduring well?
-janson
