An SMS from...

My new phone buzzed.

A new phone - because a week ago I managed to lose my trusty rusty handset.  After it did not make a return, I gave in and bought the cheapest possible replacement unit.

Which now was buzzing.

It was an sms.  A scripture portion.

I didn't know who sent it, since all my previous numbers were lost with my missing handset.

So I sent an sms - 'who r u?'

And this is the reply I got:

As far as I know - this was the first time I received an sms from a blind man.

I met Arun at the end of January this year.  Arun is a pastor with the Free Methodist Church - and has a special heart for people who are visually impared.  Like himself.

"I prayed for physical healing" Arun told me "but then God showed me something different."  Arun told me that God showed him Psalm 119 where David says: Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. (Psalm 119.18).  "My spiritual eyes have been opened" said Arun.

He told me about the group of blind people who meet for fellowship with him.  Many of them have been deeply blessed.  But many have some of the same issues that so many of us face... not wanting to trust God, seeking help in the wrong places, dishonesty... the list goes on.

Fanny Crosby, the famous hymn-writer who was blinded by a quack doctor when she was six years old, is said to have stated that "the first face that these blind eyes will ever see is the face of Jesus, my Savior."

I have had the privilege of meeting my own Fanny Cosby right here in Thane - and his name is Arun Chauhan.  Another living legend.  What a privilege to have met such a saint!