A Blind Servant

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?” Psalm 27:1 NASB

Later in life, mother’s one remaining eye was going blind.

After a long life of serving Jesus, my mother had been robbed of sight in one eye by a nasty strep infection. Surprisingly, she kept serving the Lord in the jails of Central California as the first female chaplain in Fresno County’s history. Fear often overwhelmed her, but she placed it in Jesus’ hands and pressed on.

Later she lost my father to heart failure and again pressed on. Having become one of the founders of The Valley Mission of Central California, my dear one-eyed mother pressed on and spent hours each day on her knees praying in our small bathroom.

My mother’s prayer life frightened me. A few times I came home from high school just as she would come out from praying and she had a glowing light surrounding her. Living with my mother taught me about the reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence and healing ability.

Years later, this dear handmaiden of the Lord was in danger of going blind in her one remaining eye. She was frightened, primarily because she would no longer be able to read her Bible. My mother could no longer see clearly yet continued to teach me even in this circumstance. She taught me that her soul was not blind but full of light as when she passed on, with my three professional sisters in attendance, the room filled with golden light for several blessed moments. Then, Mom made it safely to her heavenly retirement home and the room became as it was before.

Because of my Mother’s struggle with blindness, I tried to write what she had taught me:

“A woman blind to there being a one true God is a person who trips and falls. She uses walls to hang onto as she tries to make her journey safely. A woman who refuses to look up into the heavens is a nearsighted woman blind to what is coming. This woman is blind from birth and cannot imagine a sunrise. She tries to lift burdens without a Divine fulcrum. Those without faith’s light live a life without God’s power and grace. They are blind and trust nothing more than what they can see.”

You have become blind when what you see as good contradicts what God has said.

Keep looking up and pressing on with your eyes on Jesus’ beautiful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim.

Copyright © 2021 Bob Segress, used with permission.