Mark 10:51
I know what it is like to be desperate, to come to my wit’s end, to my understanding of everything I think I know. I know what it is to become fully aware of my human limitations and need for divine intervention. This is the position in which Bartimaeus found himself the day Jesus passed by. He was doubly disadvantaged; he was blind and he was a beggar, but he was very aware of not only his disadvantages, but of his surroundings. He had heard about Jesus and believed everything he had heard about him. He had heard Jesus’ voice commanding the sick to be whole, blinded eyes to open and dead situations to come alive. He had heard the shouts of amazement, joy and excitement that accompanied these miracles. He had probably heard Jesus’ critics question his integrity as well as the whispers of the ones who wanted Jesus dead. So, when he heard Jesus was nearby, he raised his voice in desperation so he could be heard above the crowd that thronged around him: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The more the crowd tried to silence him, the louder Bartimaeus shouted in desperation.
I know that cry, too. I have cried it aloud and I have whispered it in my heart. When you have come to the end of your rope and to the end of human effort, you become desperate for Him who said, “My grace is enough for you; my strength is perfected in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When everything you know intellectually fails you, you declare as King Jehoshaphat did when his people were faced with vast armies beyond their own might: “I don’t know what to do, but my eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12).
Desperation attracts God’s attention. It signals an acknowledgment of His mighty power. Bartimaeus’ cry caused Jesus to stop in His tracks and request that Bartimaeus be brought to Him. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. Very simply and without hesitation Bartimaeus responded, “I want to see!”
When, like Bartimaeus, I cry out to Jesus I, too, want to see. I want to see the situation I am in through His vantage point because leaning on my own understanding distorts my view. All He asks is that I trust Him and place my faith in He who is greater than me. Bartimaeus’s faith stopped Jesus in his tracks and Jesus healed him. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently and desperately seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). What do you want Him to do for you, today? Perhaps you can start with acknowledging your limitations and simply crying out to Him: “I want to see!” He will cause you to see as He sees and you will discover that His perspective wins every time.