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A Prescription for Blurry Vision



            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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