TD Jakes - Go Blind
This man is born blind; it doesn't matter how many other attributes he has, all of them are affected by his blindness. His strength is affected by his blindness, his intellect is affected by his blindness, his romantic life is affected by his blindness, his family life is affected by his blindness, his economic strength is affected by his blindness. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. He could have bought a house, but he was blind; he could have had a stronger family, but he was blind; he could have been considered for a position of nobility, but he was blind; he could have been more educated, but he was blind. Have you ever sat down and thought about all the things you could have been if it had not? And then you wonder, "Who's fault is it that I am blind"?
And if I were to take a poll in this room this morning, you'd be shocked at the names that will come up on the list of people we blame for what we cannot explain. Because whenever people cannot explain a dilemma, they look for somebody to blame. Anything you cannot explain, the human propensity is to look for somebody to blame. And the problem with blaming them is, if you blame your mother for doing it, your father for doing it, then you have to accept that if they are the ones who did it, then they're the ones who have to fix it. And isn't that too much power to give to another person, that you have to repent for me to get well? I love you, but that's a little too much. You might have to repent for you to get well, but you don't have to repent for me to get well, that puts me at your mercy.
So Jesus said don't blame his mama, she can't heal him; don't blame his father, he cannot heal him; don't even blame him, he cannot heal himself; but this is for the glory of God, that the glory of God might be made manifest in your life. Look at the paradox, the blindness is blindness created for glory. I want to talk to somebody who can't see where you are right now, you don't know what move to make, you're scared to take a step. I came to tell you, God's gonna get some glory out of this. And they brought him to Jesus, and Jesus said it's gonna be for the glory of God, it's gonna be for the glory of God, it's gonna be for the glory of God, it's gonna be for the glory of God. I know it's tough right now, but it's gonna be for the glory of God. I know you're crying right now, but it's gonna be for the glory of God.
I know you're embarrassed right now, but it's gonna be for the glory of God. I know it's not the house you want, but it's gonna be for the glory of God. I know you're not working the job of your dreams, but it's gonna be for the glory of God. I nobody's called you to preach, but it's gonna be for the glory of God. Preachers, I went seven years with nobody calling me to preach, and because they didn't call me I started wondering, "Did God call me"? I didn't know that my blindness was gonna be for the... Do you know how hard it is to keep preparing for something that you don't see happening? Do you know how hard it is to keep studying for sermons that nobody wants you to preach?
Pastor Robinson used to come down to visit me on Saturday mornings, bring some biscuits and come down, and I'd teach little Bible classes to him on Saturday morning; nobody else was calling me. You can't walk with God until you walk like this. When Jesus says, "I must work, 'While it's day: for when night cometh, no man can work.'" And then he says, "I am the light of the world". But light for a blind man can be a painful thing, light for a blind man can be a source of great pain. Don't be disappointed when you bring your blind friend into a spiritual environment and they go, because light for a blind, truth for a blind, Gospel for a blind man, faith for a blind man. That's what I did it, is that not why they veiled Moses's face? because the glory was, the glory was too bright.
Is that not why God told Moses, get in the cleft of the rock and hide? Because I'm gonna make my glory pass by you, and if you try to see it with your naked eye. Is that not why the people at work don't understand you, and they don't understand why you praise, and they don't understand why you come to church, and they don't understand why you gave up a man you could see for a man you could not? And I backed up and I looked at it, and I thought, "The light of the world is standing beside the blindness of the earth," light and dark have come into the same frame. Any photographer will tell you the hardest picture to capture is one where the contrast is the most severe, light and blackness are in the same frame, and they have come together.
And Jesus, the light of the world, touches blindness, the darkness of humanity, and he touches him by spitting on the ground. And the great physician goes into the apothecary and makes an ointment for healing. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? The great physician, the master doctor goes into the laboratory and makes a salve that can only be applied through touch. And the blind man couldn't see, but Jesus touched the place that hurt the most. I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but the Lord said he's going to touch the place, the one with the 10,000 nerve endings or the one that's hurting; the one that's hindered your finances and stopped you from being the man that you were created to be and stopped you from being the father that you're supposed to be and stopped you from taking the responsibility that you...
He said, "I know nobody's ever got close enough to touch you in this spot, I know it's kind of personal, and I know you got an eyelid to hide behind, but I'm gonna get up under your mask and I'm gonna touch you where you are hurting the most". And I know you've been sitting in service and you don't like to worship and you don't like to praise God, you like to watch it, you like to watch other people do it. But the reason you keep dropping your eyelid is because you're afraid of the light, but if you open it up, I'm gonna touch. Now, I see why the devil doesn't want us to open up in the presence of God. He doesn't mind you coming to church, he just doesn't want you to open up in the presence of God, he wants you to sit there with your legs crossed, looking all important like you so suchy much when you know you need a touch from God. Your mama couldn't fix it and your daddy couldn't fix it, you need a touch from God and you need to open up. I know it's hard to open it up because it's gonna hurt for some light to get in that eye, but open it up because you need a touch.
Jesus touched him. This is the Jesus that touched caskets and dead boys woke up. This is the Jesus that touched two fish and five loaves of bread, and turned it into a smorgasbord. And yet, when he touched this man, he was still blind. He made an ointment and put it in his eye, and he was still blind. I'm glad you come to church, but church won't heal you. You can get in the presence of God here, and you can get some teaching here and some concepts here, but for certain situations in your life, they will persist in spite of your church, in spite of your teaching, in spite of your tithing, in spite of your giving.
There are certain things that will persist in your life, some of the things you didn't even have have any responsibility for, you were born into certain situations and circumstances. The deck was stacked against you before you ever even got here, you inherited some circumstances beyond your control. And dance or not, shout or not, run or not, preach or not, holler or not, it is possible to be in the presence of light and still be dark, the presence of up and still be down, the presence of victory and still be failing, the presence of Word and still be confused. It is possible to get treatment and still be blind. Jesus took him in his presence, Jesus made an ointment, Jesus touched his eye, Jesus spoke the Word, and the man was still blind. And then he says to the blind man, "Go".
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm not going nowhere till you heal me, I'm not going nowhere till you deliver me, I'm not going anywhere till I get that job, I'm not going anywhere until it makes sense on paper, I'm not going anywhere until I find Mr. Right, I'm not going anywhere until I can see my way clear. Good God of mercy. And Jesus, the master physician, in the face of a momentous predicament challenges the man to go, blind. Sit down, I'm gonna show you five little points I want you to take out of this and I'm gonna get out of this. I want you to jot these down, I want you to use them in your life, I want you to use them in your ministry, I want you to use them in your business, I want you to use them in your heart.
Number one, these are five takeaway points that I want you to get out of this message if you don't get anything else. I want you to understand that even when you cannot see your way clear, you have to, number one, go by what you hear, go by what you hear. The man was blind, but he wasn't deaf, and when one thing breaks down on you, you gotta work with what's left; you don't need anything you lost to bless you. Somebody up in that balcony ought to holler about that. You don't need anything you lost to bless you. God said, "I don't need neither eye, I don't need neither eye, you're gonna have to go by what you hear".
That's why you gotta be careful who speaks into your ear, because, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God". Well, why is faith important? because the Bible said, "We walk by faith, and not by sight," so I don't need my eyes to get to the pool. Let me try them over here. I don't need my eyes to get to the pool, I don't need nothing I lost to get to the pool. I didn't need my daddy to raise me, I didn't need my mama to love me, I didn't need a degree I don't have, I don't need nothing that I lost. God said, "I'm gonna bring you into your destiny, and we're gonna do it by ear". So I want you to go by what you hear, rather than crying about what you lost.
Number two, I want you to understand that every step is a blessing, every step is a blessing. To a blind man, every step is a blessing. It's not about the destination, it's about making the next step without falling, and so don't delay your praise for the finish line, every time you take a step you need to give God a praise, because every step is a blessing. Paul said, "I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do," I'm forgetting that which is behind me, I'm reaching to that which is before me, I press, I press, I press, I press. To every person who's working from a deficit, this is a season where you gotta press. And every time you take a step, you gotta say, "God, I thank you, I made another step. I may not be there yet, but I praise you for another step. I'm not out of debt yet, but I praise you for another step. I'm not free yet, but I'm praising". Somebody praise him for another step. Every step is a blessing, every step is a blessing. Get away from people who cannot celebrate small successes, people who keep telling you, "You ain't at the pool yet". No, but I made another step.
Number three, the salve didn't work, the touch didn't work, the talking didn't work; number three is, it only works if you work it. The Word only works if you work it, victory only works if you work it, deliverance only works if you work it. God is not gonna do it for you, he's going to do it with you, it will only work if you work it. "Faith without", uh-huh, being alone, it only works if you work it. You can hear it all day long, but if you don't do it, it's not gonna work for you. I can teach you all day long, but if you don't apply the principles, it won't work for you. I can give you a recipe for a cake but you can't eat the recipe, it will only work if you work it. It'll only be bread if you work it, it only works if you work it, it only works if you work it, it only works if you work it.
Slap somebody, say, "Work that thing". You see, you've been shouting about it, but you need to work that thing; you've been dancing about it, but you need to work that thing; you've been teaching about it, but you need to work it. I am shocked at the people who can teach stuff that they can't do, it only works... oh, y'all don't hear me. I'm almost finished, can I go a little bit further? I got this from the little eye in the little man going to the big pool.
Number four, always go to something bigger than yourself, always go to something bigger than yourself. I'm wondering if you've been defeated because you have been giving yourself wholly to something that was too small to hold you. Have you thrust yourself into a glass of water? Have you leapt off the diving board into a cereal bowl person? Are you not guilty of immersing yourself into things that were too small to hold your vision? Oh my God, that's so good I'm gonna get the CD myself.
Jesus sent him to throw himself into something that was bigger than his condition, and he had to go to get to it, he had to get out of his comfort zone. My problem is, so many times, you've thrown big ideas at small people, you've given big commitment to cereal bowl people, and you're trying to get your sight back from a source that's too small to support what you're willing to put in. Is your investment bigger than the bank? You should see the way you're looking at me. Is the reason you keep being disappointed by people is that you have wholly thrown yourself into something that was too small? Jesus sends him to something that is bigger than himself so he can wash his eye. Are you trying to take a bath in a bowl?
Number five, oh, y'all are talking to me this morning, I must be hitting them toes this morning, I'm hearing toes crunching, people kicking off they're heels and hiding their feet up under the pew. Number five, immerse yourself beyond yourself, immerse yourself beyond yourself. I want you to get this. Sometimes you've been so committed to you that you have never immersed yourself beyond yourself. You're spitting in your own eye, you're trying to heal your own condition. The reason nobody can tell you anything is because you are your own physician, you wrote the story that you read and you believe it to be the truth. You have never immersed yourself beyond yourself, you're your own doctor, you're your own physician, you're your own pastor; you've been treating yourself, you've been counseling yourself and wondering why you're not getting well.
You're up at 2:00 in the morning counseling yourself, searching your head for answers you don't have. You have never immersed yourself beyond yourself, you've never read anything anybody else wrote, you've never submitted to anybody else's teaching, you don't trust anybody but you. Whatever you've been through has left you so fearful that you don't trust anybody to immerse yourself into anybody. Quite frankly, you are selfish, and the reason you are selfish is not because you're hateful, it's that you're afraid to immerse yourself in anything beyond yourself. And the other part of point 5, if you don't immerse yourself beyond yourself, then you'll never be able to redefine yourself.