It happened one evening. I was laying in bed. Not awake, not asleep. I had this thought come to me about how we tend to fight God when He only wants good for us. I was reminded of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. I watched The Miracle Worker starring Patty Duke years ago. The movie was based on Helen Keller’s life.

Helen Keller was not born blind, deaf, or mute. She came down with an illness that left her blind and deaf. She was not yet two years old, so her speech was not developed sufficiently so she never learned to speak. Well, when the story starts Helen is depicted as a sort of feral child. She is tossed to and fro allowed to feed of her family’s plate. She is unkempt, undisciplined and no one seems to be able to communicate with her. She rejects and battles anyone trying to help her. I could imagine that any child in her situation would have likely suffered abuse and neglect and no doubt exploitation. 

Here comes Anne. Anne also had vision loss and was aware of the difficulties facing Helen. She can sympathize with Helen, but Helen does not react to Anne any differently. She was used to doing things her way. Her family had allowed her to develop unrestraint. According to the movie, Anne demanded certain things from the family to be able to work with Helen. Anyway, most people are familiar with the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. Well, spiritually that is us. That is man in darkness. 

The Scriptures teach that we are born into sin. We are born into this darkness because of original sin. This darkness is our reality. In this darkness of ours we, as Helen Keller did, struggle in the darkness, feeling our way around. We go about grabbing food where we can. We throw fits when anyone tries to restrain us. We bite, we scratch, we spit. Anne went to extremes to reach Helen. And she took her punches, but she did not relent trying to reach her. Water. It was Anne putting Helen’s hand under the flowing water and spelling “water” on the other hand that finally reached Helen. 

That is what our God does for us. He is so good. He will not relent in trying to reach His children. He sent His Son to die for the sin of mankind, so we no longer have to stay in that darkness. That is what God wants to do for us. He wants to communicate with us. We go to battle with Him because we want our way in all situations. And God just wants us to be still so He can communicate with us, so He can teach us, so He can love us, embrace us with His grace and mercy. Water. He is the living water. This darkness does not have to be our reality. Like Helen Keller, she learned there was another reality waiting for her. Someone was trying to reach her, to teach her. Right now, God is doing that for His children. He wants a relationship with His children. He is waiting for us to stop and be still so He can teach us.