Friday, January 28, 2022
And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!" And Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road. Mark 10:50-52
What A Difference A Day Makes
One day Bartimaeus was a blind beggar, hopeless and stuck. The next day he had full vision and was rejoicing, running up and down the road, spreading the good news of how Jesus had healed him and delivered him from a life of desperate hopelessness. In just one day he went from desperate hopelessness to desperate faith manifested in his life.
It doesn’t always happen that dramatically for us. We may not physically be delivered out of hopeless circumstances, but our spirit can be delivered from hopelessness to faith. Our lives may not look different on the outside after an encounter with Jesus. For lots of reasons we will never understand, sometimes God leaves us where we are, when we think we cannot go on for one more minute. But He can take our feelings of desperate hopelessness and give us strength and faith to endure right where we are.
The important thing to remember is that where you are is not who you are. You may be stuck in horrible circumstances. It can really make us question God and His love and care for us sometimes. It can make us feel like Bartimaeus felt – that he didn’t matter, that no one really cared about his circumstances, and no one wanted to help him. But we know that was all lies because Jesus heard, Jesus stopped, and Jesus healed. Jesus replaced all those feelings – all those lies – with the truth. Bartimaeus realized that Jesus thought he was important, even if all those people around him were telling him to be quiet. He realized that he did matter to Jesus. He realized that Jesus did care about his circumstances. Bartimaeus asked and Jesus granted his request.
“You have not because you ask not.” James 4:2
You may be praying prayers that you feel are not being answered but please be encouraged to not believe the lies. You do matter, you are important and your circumstances matter to God. Your broken heart matters. Your struggle to get through the day, to make ends meet, to love the people in your life that may hurt you, all those cries matter to God. In hard situations when it feels like there is no hope, we have nothing to hold onto but the truth. We must choose to believe that God hears, He sees, He cares, and He is working. Do not believe the lies about yourself based on your circumstances. Believe what His word says about you. You are His child, chosen, redeemed, and loved and He never leaves us or forsakes us, even when we feel completely forsaken. Instead of a posture of hopelessness, ask in faith, keep praying, and keep crying out to Jesus. Draw strength from that faith and rest in His truth.
