STRANGE WAYS

Hey everyone,

As I awakened this morning and just laid there spending some quiet moments with God, I was reminded of a story found in Mark 8:22-26. Jesus is met by a group of people who brought a blind man with them seeking his healing. This story has always fascinated me because of the way Jesus went about healing this man. But as I headed to my Bible to find the story, I was overtaken by a whole new detail in this story. Let’s take a look:

“He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.” Mark 8:23 (NIV)

I’m sure I have read these words before, but this morning I couldn’t believe my eyes. The compassion and love threaded through Jesus’ beautiful, yet simple act of taking this blind man by the hand and leading him outside the village is astounding. He could have allowed one of the others accompanying them to lead him, but Christ chose to put his hand in the blind man’s hand to bring him to the place of his healing. I can only imagine the sensation of having complete darkness around me, yet feeling the warmth and comfort of Jesus’ hand in mine...pulling me forward to an unknown destination. This is our daily walk with Christ...blind, unknown, yet ordained and led.

Now let’s talk about the healing that followed. Let’s imagine ourselves in the sandals of this blind man. He has just been led to a foreign place, positioned before Jesus. What must this man have felt? What thoughts swept across his mind as he awaited his healing? He was standing in front of someone his eyes had never seen, waiting for something to happen that he had never experienced before. Was he fearful? Did he have questions? If he did, they never escaped his mouth. He apparently stood quietly and allow Jesus to do whatever He wished, knowing in the end, he would receive what was promised him.

Suddenly, without warning, Jesus spits right on the man’s eyes. “When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” Mark 8:23 (NIV) What a surprise and shock that must have been! It seems he would have said something in response to what had just occurred. However, the man’s only reply is an answer to what he saw. He simply stood, allowed Jesus to work, and responded to the question before him. What faith! What trust!

I bring this story to you today to remind you as I remind myself. God is an untamed, “Out of the box” God. We can read countless stories throughout the Bible where God does the most unexpected things to accomplish His work. In this story found in Mark 8, Jesus chose to spit upon a man’s eyes and touch them to restore his sight. At other times, He simply spoke and sight was restored. He even spit on the ground, made mud, and covered a man’s eyes to heal him.

Almighty God wants to do miraculous things in and through us for His glory. Will we allow Him, no matter how He goes about it, to accomplish His work? What about the times when we’re lead outside our comfort zone, surrounded by darkness and unknowns? What are we thinking when we feel blinded and unsure of God’s future workings? What if Jesus chose to spit upon our eyes and cover them with His hands? Do we trust Him enough to quiet the fears and questions and let Him work?

If we simply stand, knowing He’s right before with us, working even when we can’t see what He’s doing, He will complete whatever it is He desires. And we know through God’s promises that His plans for us indeed laid out, they are good, and they will bring us hope and a future. No matter God’s strange ways, may we each stand in faith before Him as He works...