I sat in my chair, sipping my coffee and reading this amazing book, the Book of life, the Word of God. And as I did, I came across this incredible passage…
Matthew 20:29-34 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
And, behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?
They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.
So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
So, here we find two men. Two blind men. Their needs were obvious. If anyone had asked, they would be told… we want to receive our sight! Up to this point in their lives, for some reason God´s perfect plan for these two men was that they be blind. Perhaps they had tried remedies before, and simply none had worked… They received a very difficult NO to their wish.
I began to think of the No´s I´ve recieved in my life. No one likes for anyone to tell them no, and somehow even when God does, it´s not always easy to receive His no. How many of us have NO´s in our lives? Death, a miscarriage, infertility, relationships gone wrong and no way to recover them... Hopes, dreams, desires we think would be really good-- and yet God said NO.
God says no, it takes a while to receive His no. We want to ask questions, ¨What? Why? Why not? What´s so wrong about this?¨ Sometimes we even gain a perspective of God being cruel to us. I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and trust me, it´s taken a while to come to the point of realizing that God´s NO isn´t because he wants to be cruel to us, or even sometimes because we´ve done something terribly wrong.
So, here we find two men. Two blind men. Their needs were obvious. If anyone had asked, they would be told… we want to receive our sight! Up to this point in their lives, for some reason God´s perfect plan for these two men was that they be blind. Perhaps they had tried remedies before, and simply none had worked… They received a very difficult NO to their wish.
I began to think of the No´s I´ve recieved in my life. No one likes for anyone to tell them no, and somehow even when God does, it´s not always easy to receive His no. How many of us have NO´s in our lives? Death, a miscarriage, infertility, relationships gone wrong and no way to recover them... Hopes, dreams, desires we think would be really good-- and yet God said NO.
God says no, it takes a while to receive His no. We want to ask questions, ¨What? Why? Why not? What´s so wrong about this?¨ Sometimes we even gain a perspective of God being cruel to us. I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and trust me, it´s taken a while to come to the point of realizing that God´s NO isn´t because he wants to be cruel to us, or even sometimes because we´ve done something terribly wrong.
“GOD NEVER WITHHOLDS FROM HIS CHILD THAT WHICH HIS LOVE AND WISDOM CALL GOOD. GOD’S REFUSALS ARE ALWAYS MERCIFUL — “SEVERE MERCIES” AT TIMES BUT MERCIES ALL THE SAME. GOD NEVER DENIES US OUR HEARTS DESIRE EXCEPT TO GIVE US SOMETHING BETTER.” ELISABETH ELLIOT
These two men impress me because they didn’t let the rebuke persuade them! They ¨cried the more¨ the Bible says!!!! And then I love seeing what Jesus does next. He stands still, calls them to him and says basically, ¨What would you like?¨
Here are these two men, they finally get to Jesus and Jesus asks them what it is they want! What an opportunity! What a chance!!!! The next verse, they clearly make their petition to God. ¨Lord, that our eyes may be opened.¨
Jesus has compassion on them, touches their eyes and immediately, IMMEDIATELY they received what they asked for!
Perhaps we´ve grown to the point in our walk with God to receive God´s ´no´ in our life. ¨And if not, then God is still good.¨ And we repeat it over and over and over to ourselves. ¨God is good, God is good, God is good.¨
But can I ask you a question? If Jesus came by your home today and asked you ¨What will ye that I shall do unto you?¨ What would you answer? What would you dare to bring before Him in petition? Will you dare to ask Him for something more? Will you dare to dream again?
Don’t you think God ever gets tired of the way we settle in our lives? Hurt happens, hearts break… we learn to accept the no, but what if, what if God came by asking you again what you would dream for? Dare to ask Him to do? When was the last time we dared to dream God could give our church 100 souls saved? 1000 souls saved? 100 down the aisle? 10 baptisms? Change a family? Move in a husband’s heart? Convert a lost sinner? Are you willing to be vulnerable again, believe again in His almighty power, and ask Him for something more?
I don´t know about you, but I began to dream again. This passage is changing my prayer life. If the only thing God did for you today is what you prayed for this morning…. what would He do for you?
Have you listened too much to the naysayers? ¨God will never heal you, God could not possibly use you, who are you anyways?¨ Have you let the critic affect your heart to the point of breaking you? Why don´t you look up once again and see that God is the God Almighty, who ever waits to hear you pray? The One who loves you unconditionally, with a love that never ceases, never ends? Are you living for an audience of One?
Will you dare to dream again? Will you ask Him what He wants to do? Will you offer your all once again at His feet, stay in His story and endeavor to live one more day for His glory?
I ponder... What more can God do through home? my ministry? my church? The nations, when will they bow before Him? This pagan Peruvian place…. Could we become a country that would love God and serve Him? My teens, could they become adults who love Him with every fiber in their being and are willing to give up anything to follow Christ? This precious people I’m privileged to serve, will they become a people who too will beg God for something more?
I don´t know about you, but I began to dream again. This passage is changing my prayer life. If the only thing God did for you today is what you prayed for this morning…. what would He do for you?
Have you listened too much to the naysayers? ¨God will never heal you, God could not possibly use you, who are you anyways?¨ Have you let the critic affect your heart to the point of breaking you? Why don´t you look up once again and see that God is the God Almighty, who ever waits to hear you pray? The One who loves you unconditionally, with a love that never ceases, never ends? Are you living for an audience of One?
Will you dare to dream again? Will you ask Him what He wants to do? Will you offer your all once again at His feet, stay in His story and endeavor to live one more day for His glory?
I ponder... What more can God do through home? my ministry? my church? The nations, when will they bow before Him? This pagan Peruvian place…. Could we become a country that would love God and serve Him? My teens, could they become adults who love Him with every fiber in their being and are willing to give up anything to follow Christ? This precious people I’m privileged to serve, will they become a people who too will beg God for something more?
And you? What will you dare to dream, dare to beg God for? Be careful... He might just answer you and make your dreams come true.
