\u201cDallas was a pretty rebellious guy,\u201d Scott Cox said.<\/p>\n
The Texas pastor remembers meeting Dallas Wiens on several occasions, though he didn\u2019t know him well. Dallas\u2019 grandparents, Del and Sue Peterson, prayed for years that Dallas would return to the faith he once embraced as a child growing up under their influence at Ridglea Baptist Church in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n
Sue Peterson always believed God had special plans for Dallas. A former Sunday School teacher of Dallas\u2019, Darla Mahan, had the same impression. Little did anyone imagine that God would use a tragic accident at the church to accomplish those plans.<\/p>\n
From the beginning of his proverbial wilderness wandering at about age 14 \u201ctill the time I got hurt, I always knew God was God. I couldn\u2019t deny He was there,\u201d Weins said.<\/p>\n
But Wiens went his own way. Following high school, an Army stint that ended prematurely with a knee injury, dashing hopes of Ranger school, a failed marriage and broken relationships, God put Wiens in a position to hear, and ironically, to see.<\/p>\n
His brush with a high-voltage wire — which took his sight and left his face severely disfigured — is a blessing he says he wouldn\u2019t trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has just a real maturity about where he is and his understanding of Christ and his view of the world,\u201d said Cox, who meets with Wiens regularly. \u201cThere is an acceptance of what happened to him as God\u2019s providence. He has a very strong view of the sovereignty of God.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not angry at God over it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiens spends a good deal of time in the Word, especially with what he calls an \u201caddiction\u201d to Old Testament wisdom literature in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. He also sees the beauty of people made in God\u2019s image.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing I can see is their heart,\u201d Wiens said of people he encounters. \u201cAnd I was a pretty judgmental person when I was sighted. There is more beauty in people than what we see with our eyes. Being blind has given me the ability to really know others\u201d — what he calls a \u201cserious gift of discernment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vanity spoken of in Ecclesiastes resonates with Wiens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe worry about so much that doesn\u2019t matter. Cars, houses, wedding rings, whether one\u2019s spouse is the most attractive,\u201d Wiens said. \u201cWe have the ability to stop those stressors. But we don\u2019t. And Solomon sums it up: It doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiens said he appreciates Cox, his pastor at Ridglea Baptist Church, because \u201che\u2019s not detached.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel enlightened every time we end our conversation. I am blessed,\u201d Wiens said.<\/p>\n
Cox said he is the one who goes away from their conversations most blessed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDallas\u2019 story is an example of how God will pursue one of His people,\u201d Cox said. \u201cI kind of think about Jonah. That accident was Dallas\u2019 fish and he sees it that way too. It lets you know the temporal things of this life are fleeting. His eternal life is more important than what we experience in the physical. We put so much emphasis on the physical and natural and it\u2019s not worthy to be compared to the eternal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s so much more important and Dallas sees that,\u201d the pastor said. \u201cHe\u2019s willing to go through the handicaps he has now, but his eternity is certain, he knows God loves him and he is at peace with God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiens, who is waiting for facial transplant surgery in Boston, said he feels tested every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing blind after 23 years of sight is not the easiest thing. But the blindness has taught me so much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1366]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cDallas was a pretty rebellious guy,\u201d Scott Cox said. The Texas pastor remembers meeting Dallas Wiens on several occasions, though he didn\u2019t know him well. Dallas\u2019 grandparents, Del and Sue Peterson, prayed for years that Dallas would return to the faith he once embraced as a child growing up under their influence at Ridglea Baptist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[702,854,3234,3235,2017],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5779"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}