The Miracle Worker ∙

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The Miracle Worker ∙

Your instructions are a doorway through which light shines. They give insight to the untrained. – Psalms 119:130

Psalms 19:7-13

 7 The instructions of the LORD are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

 8 The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight for living.

 9 Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair.

 10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.

 12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.

 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was 19 months old, Keller contracted an unknown illness, which rendered her both deaf and blind. Her almost complete lack of language left her isolated and alone. She was unable to receive information or love. She characterized her life as being “at sea in a dense fog.”

As beautifully portrayed in the film, “The Miracle Worker,” Anne Sullivan comes to be Helen Keller’s instructor on March 5, 1887. Keller would forever remember that day as her “soul’s birthday.”

Sullivan immediately began to teach Helen to communicate by spelling words into her hand, beginning with “d-o-l-l” for the doll that she had brought Keller as a present.

Keller’s breakthrough in communication came the next month when she realized that the motions her teacher was making on the palm of her hand while running cool water over her other hand, symbolized the idea of “water.”

Keller recalled the moment. “I stood still; my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten – a thrill of returning thought, and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that w-a-t-e-r meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. The living word awakened my soul, gave it light, hope, set it free!”

The Father has provided us with our own personal miracle worker: The Word of God. The Word of God is the doorway through which His light shines. We come into this world isolated and alone. Spiritually speaking, we are blind and deaf. The living Word of God awakens our soul and sets it free. The Word of God gives us light and hope that nourishes our soul and feeds our spirit.

John 9:25 “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

It is though, each of us is born in a dark room behind closed doors and and thick and impenetrable walls that keep us from the light. The darkness of our confinement blinds us, like fish trapped in an underground cave. We find ourselves groping uselessly for understanding and meaning. Then a doorway opens ever so slightly, and we see a streak of light. The Word of God is the doorway to the light that shines into our souls, minds, and hearts.

REFLECT & PRAY

“Often, we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us” (Helen Keller).

Father, there has been more than enough darkness in my life. Encourage me to walk in the light of Your delightful Word every day.

INSIGHT

Spiritual insight and understanding result from the marvelous light of the Father’s Word. When the Word of God is unfolded, its meaning is pondered, clarified, and understood.

Psalms 119:130 Your words are a doorway through which light shines. They give insight to the untrained.

The Hebrew word translated entrance, unfolding, or doorway is pethach. It means an unfolding, disclosure, or opening up. This term was used for a river which was blocked and then opened up. As a result, the water then flowed freely.

When the living water of God’s Word freely flows into our souls, it brings about inner life and transformation. This thought is echoed in the New Testament. In

Luke 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

The more we recognize our need and dependence and seek light, the more the Father’s Word will shine into our hearts. The Father desires that each child of the King receive the light of His Word in their innermost being.

John 9:39-41

 39 Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

 40 Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

 41 “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.”

O, what a wonderful, wonderful day

Day I will never forget

When I was wandering in darkness away

Jesus my Savior I met

O, what a tender compassionate Friend

He met the need of my heart

Shadows dispelling with joy I am telling

He made all the darkness depart

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved” (Helen Keller).

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