John 9:1-30 (AMP)
1 AS HE passed along, He noticed a man blind from his birth.
2 His disciples asked Him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?
3 Jesus answered, It was not that this man or his parents sinned, but he was born blind in order that the workings of God should be manifested (displayed and illustrated) in him.
4 We must work the works of Him Who sent Me and be busy with His business while it is daylight; night is coming on, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world’s Light.
6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground and made clay (mud) with His saliva, and He spread it [as ointment] on the man’s eyes.
7 And He said to him, Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam—which means Sent. So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
8 When the neighbors and those who used to know him by sight as a beggar saw him, they said, Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?
9 Some said, It is he. Others said, No, but he looks very much like him. But he said, Yes, I am the man.
10 So they said to him, How were your eyes opened?
11 He replied, The Man called Jesus made mud and smeared it on my eyes and said to me, Go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and I obtained my sight!
12 They asked him, Where is He? He said, I do not know.
13 Then they conducted to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
14 Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud and opened the man’s eyes.
15 So now again the Pharisees asked him how he received his sight. And he said to them, He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.
16 Then some of the Pharisees said, This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not observe the Sabbath. But others said, How can a man who is a sinner (a bad man) do such signs and miracles? So there was a difference of opinion among them.
17 Accordingly they said to the blind man again, What do you say about Him, seeing that He opened your eyes? And he said, He is [He must be] a prophet!
18 However, the Jews did not believe that he had [really] been blind and that he had received his sight until they called (summoned) the parents of the man.
19 They asked them, Is this your son, whom you reported as having been born blind? How then does he see now?
20 His parents answered, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind.
21 But as to how he can now see, we do not know; or who has opened his eyes, we do not know. He is of age. Ask him; let him speak for himself and give his own account of it.
22 His parents said this because they feared [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should acknowledge Jesus to be the Christ, he should be expelled and excluded from the synagogue.
23 On that account his parents said, He is of age; ask him.
24 So the second time they summoned the man who had been born blind, and said to him, Now give God the glory (praise). This Fellow we know is only a sinner (a wicked person).
25 Then he answered, I do not know whether He is a sinner and wicked or not. But one thing I do know, that whereas I was blind before, now I see.
26 So they said to him, What did He [actually] do to you? How did He open your eyes?
27 He answered, I already told you and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Can it be that you wish to become His disciples also?
28 And they stormed at him [they jeered, they sneered, they reviled him] and retorted, You are His disciple yourself, but we are the disciples of Moses.
29 We know for certain that God spoke with Moses, but as for this Fellow, we know nothing about where He hails from.
30 The man replied, Well, this is astonishing! Here a Man has opened my eyes, and yet you do not know where He comes from. [That is amazing!]

Everybody has a story, what’s yours? Wherever you’ve been, are coming from or going to, whatever you’ve experienced, there is a story there to encourage, support, motivate and lift somebody to expect and believe for their story.
As children, we sit listening to stories told us with such embellishment that made our eyes like saucers and our mouths open in amazement.
But the best stories though are those that aroused connection, conviction, and compassion in us as we listened. They taught us and inspired us. They served as cautionary tales or models of faith for us to emulate.
What is your story? We all have a story!
The stories of the bible are worth telling and retelling, these stories teach our life stories, so we can find hope to step out in faith in the here and now, trusting a trustworthy God.
And our lives are unfolding as stories worth telling — stories that highlight our stumbling and sin, our achievements and failures, our victories, and fears but above all our need and reception of the Saviour to find forgiveness and strength.
We all have a story. You have a story. What is your story?
One song that should fill our mouths constantly is “this is my story, this is my song, praising my saviour all that the long, this is my story, this is my song, praising my saviour all that the long.”
The Bible is overflowing with God’s goodness to humanity and occasions when He put a story in their mouth.
Jesus, the author according to Hebrews 12:2 has written a story about you, what’s that story? Jesus didn’t write an autobiography of you, nor a personal story, your story is a biography of wisdom and grace written by God based on His plans for you according to Jeremiah 29:11.
Every page He writes into your story is right, He knows where every punctuation is placed. Every twist of the plot is for your best according to Romans 8:38.
Every new character is approved and ordained by God to be part of your story, to supply resources as He did for Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:1-15, some characters are manpower for your story like in Nehemiah 3.
Each new chapter in your story advances God’s purpose for your life and His kingdom, as stated in Acts 26:16.
We can look back at God’s track record in our lives to have confidence in Him today and daily. When we tell and retell our stories, stories that come from us reading and rereading the Scriptures, listening to sermons that expand on the texts, by sharing the stories with our children and grandchildren according to Deuteronomy 6:7, we keep in front of us reminder after reminder of God’s power and favour so that when we face struggles, we can look back and see, remembering our past victories, stories and be assured that God could be trusted again to give us another story.
Like the blind man, our personal stories are powerful tools for kingdom matters, in verses
17 and 25 we see the power of testimony at work, a blind beggar’s experience is all he had and it’s enough.
One thing I know he said, what do you know that fuels your story? This is my story-God is for me! What’s your story?
Shalom