Have you
ever been at a place in life where you look at your circumstances and say, “I
don’t get it”? What do you do when
things seem a little out of control and the outcome is unknown? Mark 8 contains a reminder that may help.
One day,
Jesus was going through the little fishing village of Bethsaida when a group of
people brought a blind man to him. This
was not unusual. Almost everywhere
Christ went people came for healing.
What makes this incident notable is the way in which Jesus heals this
man.
Jesus took
the man, spit on his eyes, put his hands on him and then asked, “Do you see
anything?” (Verse 23).
The man
responded, “I see people; they look like trees walking around” (verse 24).
“Once more
Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was
restored, and he saw everything clearly” (verse 25).
Many times,
Jesus healed people with a single touch, or with a word, but in this case he
heals this man “progressively”; a little bit at a time. The man goes from having no vision, to seeing
things in a blurry way, to having his sight fully restored in a series of
steps.
What is
true of physical healing in this incident can also be said about Spiritual
healing. Sometimes people come to
spiritual healing and sight very quickly.
Other times, it takes a long drawn out process before people see with
any spiritual clarity at all. Sometimes
things are quickly clear and, yet other times the blurriness can last a long
time.
The key in
either case is simply to let God work.
Honour the process that you are in by giving it time to work itself
out. If we demand answers too quickly,
or if we push our own will into the picture, we can short-circuit the very
thing that God is trying to do in us.
Lately
there are several things in my life that are sort of “blurry”. I do not see them very well yet. I do not understand why these things are
happening or even what good they could produce.
However, this incident reminds me that God, his Son and his Spirit do
things in their own way and that they bring their blessings in their own time.
Knowing
that Jesus sometimes brings his healing in stages allows me wait, to be patient
and to expect a good outcome no matter how blurry things look now.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways”, declares the Lord (Isaiah 55:8).
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