When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, "Can you see anything now?" The man looked around. "Yes," he said, "I see people, but I can't see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around." Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying, "Don't go back into the village on your way home." -- Mark 8: 22-26 (NLT)
This short little story in the Gospel of Mark may get passed over because we have read so often about the many miracles of Christ. What is one blind man versus another after all? But within this story are some deeper truths about faith that we can examine and internalize as we move forward in our walk with God. The healings of the blind are often exposited regarding their relationship to salvation. Once we were blind and in the world but now we see and are saved. That is correct theologically. Going deeper however let us look at faith on the level of a believer. Because our faith can vary and it can waver. It can be strong in some areas and it can falter in others. Remember the story of the father with the demon possessed son who had lost a great deal of his faith during his time dealing with his son's ailment. When Jesus diagnosed his problem it was not just that his son was struggling with a demon but also that the father was struggling with his faith:
The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can." "What do you mean, "If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes." The father instantly cried out, "I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!" -- Mark 9: 22-24 (NLT)
The response from the father should be our prayer daily. While we hold onto our belief regarding God and our salvation, we certainly come up against areas we struggle with unbelief in. Maybe we struggle in our faith regarding our kids. Or maybe it is our relationship status or marriage. Possibly it can be our career or even a ministry issue. Whatever it is that we start to doubt, we can become like the blind man we find in our key verses. Have you ever met someone like this? Rock solid faith in nearly every area but completely blind when it comes to their boyfriend. Or their job. Or the guilt they cannot admit they are operating under. They have faith that can move mountains when it comes to someone else but maybe not when they are facing their own wilderness. It is human nature to question and to doubt. Human nature is the opposite of faith.
But within this short story I see three truths God is trying to teach us today in the middle of our struggle with incidental faith. Because true faith is not meant to be incidental. It is meant to be comprehensive, as outlined in Romans:
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. -- Romans 8: 28 (NIV)
That doesn't say God is working it all out for our good in some things. It doesn't say it is only in the easy things. No beloved, God is working all things out for your good in EVERYTHING. Even that one area you find your faith wavering in. Even in the middle of your demon possessed son, God is working it out for your good. But back to the key verses -- what stands out to me are the stark differences Jesus makes with this particular blind man versus His other healings. God rarely does the same thing the same way and He is always trying to teach us something new. The first lesson for us in dealing with areas where our faith wavers is that sometimes, you need to remove yourself from your village:
Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village -- Mark 8: 23a (NLT)
Could Jesus have just as easily healed this man in the village? Of course He could! Then why lead him out of the village? What is God saying to us today? If we expect a change in our situations, sometimes we need to change the surroundings. If there is an area of our life we find our faith wavering in, God is saying that sometimes we have to leave the village we surround ourselves with. Maybe we are doubting God for our future marriage but we consider dating outside of the church. Look, God's Word is God's Word. The admonishments and warnings are not to be taken lightly or as mere advisement. Maybe we doubt God for our finances but haven't entrusted Him with what He has already given us! Maybe our faith is faltering about the trouble in our marriage but we have not embraced our correct role as male or female in that marriage, according to God's Word.
Other times God could simply mean that leaving the village we are in means leaving the people we surround ourselves with. Do the people we spend time with encourage our faith or plant seeds of doubt? Sometimes it is human nature to love misery. We can seek out people who facilitate that misery instead of speaking life into our situations where we proclaim death. We may shy away from that person who will tell us what the Word of God says and dismiss them as telling us something we already know. Knowing what the Word says and applying it to our lives are two totally different things. One is about knowledge and the other is about wisdom. Then instead of listening to the friend who will direct us back to God we seek out marital advice from the unsaved co-worker who already has two divorces to their credit! What kind of advice do you think you are going to get! Or maybe we surround ourselves with people who like to gossip, even within the church. Drama perpetuates drama beloved. When we are facing the giants in our life we need to first examine what village it is that we are spending our time in regarding that problem. What do we need to extract ourselves out of? Who do we need to surround ourselves with? Proverbs teaches us:
