As [Jesus] drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazereth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more,
“SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”
And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, Glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43)
Monday night I went to our University Heath Center to have a little rash checked out. I normally hate going to the doctor’s for anything besides a bone protruding from my flesh or while unconscious, so this was no exception.
The reason I decided to go was because, oddly, the little rash I got was pretty stinking painful. When it wasn’t itchy, it felt like I had burned it and was prodding it with electrified skewers. The Doctor’s response: “Yep… that’s Shingles.”
Shingles is a skin disease that is caused by the same dormant virus that causes chicken pox when you were a child. When you got over chicken pox, the virus didn’t leave your body– it just sat around. For the normal person, this isn’t a problem but for the lucky few like myself, the virus breaks through to the surface via nerves connected to the spine and attacks and damages them on the way out. Result: the feeling of being pierced with fishing hooks that are constantly yanked on by a MAC truck.
So I do what I normally do– I call out to my God and Father.
“Dad, please take this pain away from me. I can’t go another night without sleeping, I have too much work to do.”
But here’s what I’ve been learning about God and healing. Am I just buddying up to God so that he’ll heal me? Am I just reading my bible and praying extra hard so that I can feel better?
That’s not what’s happening to the blind beggar in the account above.
Jesus gives sight to the beggar so that the beggar could follow Jesus and glorify him. The blind man didn’t go back to his business begging, or go off and do something else since he now has sight.
Jesus was not just a means by which the beggar could receive his sight.
Jesus healed the blind beggar, which was the means to meet the ends of allowing him to see Jesus and to glorify him.
Oh, how I repent of asking Jesus to be the means of my healing. I pray boldly that God would remove these painful shingles so that I may glorify him better, not just so I can get my work done in comfort.
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Dad I know that you have the power to give and the power to take away. I know that these silly shingles are but dust for you to flick away if you so desired. But I pray with all my heart, that you be glorified by removing this pain. That it would make you look good and perfect, as you are.
And God, if you’re not glorified, then don’t bother removing this. I’ll bear this to the grave if you can’t be glorified in healing me.