Finding Blessings Through My Sight Loss

When I was about 10 years old, I experienced one of the scariest moments of my life.

It was a beautiful, sunny day and I was on horseback, my favorite place on earth. While riding through an open pasture with my sister, my horse suddenly got spooked and took off at a full gallop.

I considered myself a pretty seasoned equestrian at the time, but this sudden increase in speed took me by surprise and, before I knew it, I was literally hanging upside down beneath the horse’s neck.

To make matters worse, my mother was witnessing the whole thing. I don’t really know which one of us was more terrified in that moment!

After what seemed like hours, but what was probably only a few agonizing seconds, I could no longer hold on, and I dropped to the ground.

Thankfully, and by a miraculous act of God, the horse’s thundering hooves somehow missed me as I fell right into their path. I rose from the grass with a wounded sense of pride, a swollen ankle, and slightly traumatized.

It wasn’t all bad though.

Due to my slight injury, I got to stay home from school the next day with my ankle elevated, cartoons on the television, and all the junk food I could want!

Young Sara Claudia with a horse.

In that moment, I learned that sometimes good things can come out of bad, scary, or painful situations.

While that unintentional dismount so many years ago was definitely something that I will never forget, blindness is no doubt the hardest thing I have ever faced, and for a long time, I couldn’t even imagine anything good that could come out of such a hard situation.

After all, I had lost so much. The plans for my future, my sense of a “normal” life, opportunities, and so much more.

It took me a long time and many moments of darkness to realize that God can and will work in even the hardest, most devastating trials that we face.

When we allow him to do so, he can turn our sorrow into joy, our pain into a purpose, and bless us in ways that we could never imagine.

Here are some of the ways in which God has blessed me through my sight loss:

The Opportunity for a Closer Relationship with Him

One of the biggest blessings that came from my sight loss is that God used it to draw me closer to Him. Not only did I need this intimate relationship in the midst of the grief that I faced, but I also needed it even before my blindness.

In 2015, I was very lost spiritually and did not have a personal relationship with Christ. 

While I will never look at my blindness as a punishment from God, I do believe that He sometimes allows trials to present themselves in our lives so that we will draw closer to Him.

He gives us that opportunity, but the choice is up to us.

It is a choice I have to make every day, and it is the very important decision to turn my eyes away from my pain and hardships and towards building and strengthening the connection that I have with God.

I know now that, with God in my corner, I can face any challenge.

More Time

For the first several months and even years after my sight loss, I was pretty bitter about all of the time I had lost.

I felt behind on my schooling as I watched everyone around me graduate and start their careers.

I felt behind in my personal life as I witnessed friends and family members who were the same age as me getting married and having children.

I had lost what was supposed to be the carefree days of my early twenties because I was too busy learning how to face grief, function independently without my sight, and live with a disability.

However, I came to realize that, in the midst of all of the time that I thought that I lost, I also gained quite a bit.

While I wasn’t spending as much time at school, with friends, or chasing opportunities, I was spending more time with family, myself, and God.

Ultimately, God gave me several months, when I was recovering from the trauma I endured, to disconnect, refocus, and reprioritize my life.

I spent the time getting to know my family in ways I had never taken the time to do before, becoming more in tune with my own strengths….and weaknesses, and getting in touch with God on a personal and intimate level.

When I stopped focusing on all of the time that I had lost, I began to see what all God had actually given me.

Sara Claudia holding the Bible.

A New Perspective

Another way God blessed me through my sight loss was through giving me a new perspective on the world around me. Through losing my ability to see, I was able to see people, places, and experiences in a whole different way.

I now had this experience in my own life where I had faced trauma, loss, and grief, and this allowed me to view pain in the lives of others with more empathy and compassion.

With time, I was also able to see how many of the things we fix our eyes on in this world are arbitrary and temporary.

Our worries, labels, and appearances will all fade, but the promise that we have in Christ is forever, and that is what we should always keep our eyes focused on. 

“So, we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT)

A Platform

Through my story, God has given me an avenue to reach people, not for my own gain, but for His.

It took me a while to realize that this was His purpose for me, and that I could ultimately use my pain and loss for His glory.

When we allow God to use our trials for His purpose, some pretty amazing things can happen not only in our lives but in the lives of others as well.

Giving my struggle with sight loss over to God was the best decision that I ever made.

When I made this choice, my faith deepened and He turned my pain into a purpose. 

With this purpose, I have been able to share with hundreds of people the power, grace, and unfailing love of Christ through my testimony, blog, and podcast.

Sara Claudia sharing her testimony with a large crowd.

We all face situations in life that seem completely hopeless. In these times, it is hard to imagine that there is any good that can come as a result. I am here to tell you that, it is okay to not see any light at the end of the tunnel. You do not have to be positive in that moment.

All you have to do is give the situation to God.

Let it go, trust Him, and be obedient.

He will work all things out in his time for His glory, and, I guarantee, you will be blessed along the way.

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13 NLT)

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Joe Garrett at Garrett and Robinson Investment, where they deliver the support and financial guidance that you need regardless of what the upcoming days, weeks, or even months might bring.