Luke 18:35-42 The Blind Beggar
Do you remember the story of the blind beggar who was healed by Jesus? Do you remember what Jesus said to the man?
Luke 18:42 “Your faith has healed you.”
I want that kind of faith. My faith can waver in and out of fears that rear their ugly head from time to time. Fear has the potential to fracture my faith. But what does Jesus say about our faith?
Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
HOLD IT! Now I am confused, so Jesus started by saying the disciples had little faith, but in the next breath says little faith can move mountains. Okay so scripture is God-breathed and never wrong. What am I missing? Let’s begin by wrapping some context around this. When Jesus said, “because you have so little faith”, he was responding to a question the disciples had asked. More specifically they were attempting to cast demons out of a young boy and were unsuccessful and they asked Jesus “why”. The problem here was that the disciples believed that they had been gifted with power. In fact, what they needed to understand was that it was God working through them. They needed to have a true faith, not just believing that God exists. Rather genuine faith in an all-powerful God fully capable of everything.
Do we have faith in God’s power over our present, current day situations? Do we have that true, genuine faith, regardless of whether it is the size of a mustard seed? Do we have the faith of the blind beggar?
Maybe we have fractured faith like the disciples in that situation? Maybe something is holding us back from believing in God’s power to work in our lives and the lives of our loved ones? Maybe we have been through a situation and prayed and the outcome wasn’t what we prayed for? It is possible that our faith becomes fractured through these losses and tragedies in our lives?
Christine, a dear friend, passed away on June 12, 2012. Christine battled with cancer for seven years. She suffered on this earth and passed away even though there were many, many prayer requests for her healing. I believe with my whole heart that God could have changed the trajectory of Christine’s life on this earth, but that was not His will for her life. It just doesn’t make sense to us and I believe it won’t until we get to heaven. In the meantime, we are challenged. Will our faith become fractured because God didn’t answer our prayers? In spite of the sufferings we see around us and experience in our own lives and those we love – will we have true faith?
I believe God has the power to do absolutely anything, so I would say yes, I have the faith of a mustard seed. But my thought is, regardless of the faith I have, if it is not the will of God, He will not do it. For me, and maybe you too, that is the crux of the matter. Will I choose to have faith in God’s plan or my plan? Isn’t this now a larger question of surrendering to God’s will for our lives and those we love? If we believe and surrender, isn’t that true faith? What would that look like in our lives? I picture it as fervent prayer and peace that follows. If I truly believe in an all-powerful God, I wouldn’t hesitate in the loftiness of my prayer requests because nothing is too big for Him. But should be coupled with a confidence that God’s plan is perfect and mine is not. An acceptance, knowing He hears my prayers and peace knowing that He is omniscient and in control of everything.
Yet…I am challenged. What does that practically look like in my life?
My mother has Alzheimer’s; do I believe that the all-powerful God can heal her? Yes, I do, but what have I prayed for God to do? Have I asked Him to heal her? No, I didn’t. Instead I limited my prayers to within the realm of the medical diagnosis. What I mean is that I prayed for doctors to have wisdom and compassion. I prayed that the doctors would give her medications that would let her live a comfortable and quality life. I prayed for her to have friends to surround her. I prayed for family to have the patience to endure. But did I ask God to heal her? No. I ask myself, why? I believed that this was God’s will for her life, I accepted her diagnosis and I try to be obedient throughout. The question is how do I know that is God’s will for her life? I don’t. So I challenge myself today to believe in the impossible, to believe in my omnipotent God who is capable of more than our ears can hear, our eyes can see and our minds can imagine.
1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived – the things God has prepared for those who love him.
My prayers, our prayers need to change to be delivered in the context of claiming the power of God and rooted in an unwavering faith in God, His will and His way.
Our faith is fractured God, it can flee in the face of fear, anxiety and uncertainty of our daily living. I pray that you would build in us an impenetrable faith and trust in Your will and Your way. Help us to pray with hope and conviction in your power and love. Help us to be thankful like the blind beggar when our prayers are answered. Help us to know You are with us when our prayers are not answered. Remind us that You are journeying with us, guide us to find the transcending peace that comes from surrendering to Your will in spite of what our eyes see and our ears hear. Amen.