Here's mud in your eye!
Sometimes, God seems to take an inordinately long amount of time to heal someone. Why, I don't know.
It can either be a faith crusher or a faith builder, depending on how we respond to the seeming lack of interest from God.
But God cares about the minutest details of our lives.
"Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Luke 12:7
"How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand..." Psalm 139:17-18a
Remember when Lazarus died and the first words out of Martha's lips when Jesus finally showed up? “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:21) In other words, Martha said, "Jesus, You're late."
How could Jesus let her beloved brother die? Why didn't Jesus come right away? Didn't he care? Didn't He love Lazarus? Martha?
Ever been there? Maybe no one died, but your loved one has been sick. Or maybe it's you. And it's gone on forever now.
Jesus, where are You? You could clear this up in an instant.
Our problem is we want paradise and we want it now.
But, as we all know, paradise was lost. We lost it the moment we believed the lie of the serpent instead of trusting God.
Why am I saying "we" when we all know it was all Eve's fault, right?
But we would have done the same thing. So even though we weren't the first person there physically "eating the fruit," we were there in spirit. Trust me.
Then there's the case where Jesus healed the blind man gradually. At other times, he restored someone's sight with just a word. But this time, Jesus chose to heal the blind man little by little. (John 9:6) Jesus spit on some dirt, made mud, and applied it to the blind man's eyes.
Are you in a situation where Jesus is putting "mud in your eye" and you'd just as soon have Him heal you or your loved one already?
Is it our lack of faith causing this dreadful delay? We know Jesus is perfect and all He does is perfect and righteous. So, hard as life can get, it is never the fault of Jesus.
Jesus wasn't late in Lazarus's case and, gulp, He's not late in ours, either.
This is SOOOOOOOOO hard to grasp and understand, let alone like.
I wonder if in the middle of his healing, when the blind man saw a bunch of blurry "trees" he thought, "Oh no. This is not the healing I was hoping for."
But Jesus came through for him. Fully. Completely. Perfectly. And yes, finally.
So while Jesus is busy spitting on dirt to make mud and then applying it to our "eyes," it is important that we keep believing Him for full recovery. Is this hoping in vain? What if the heaiing doesn't come this side of heaven? After all, sometimes when people pray for someone's healing, that someone still dies.
All I know is that Jesus knows exactly what He is doing. Always. No ifs, ands, or buts. He truly does all things well, even when it makes no sense and we don't like how or when He does it. Or even if He does it.
His timing is neither one second late nor one second early. Ever.
So when there is still "mud in our eyes" and we can't see fully yet the healing, our desired outcome, let's remember these things. Let's let these things build our faith instead of crush it.
We can always choose faith.
Lord Jesus, You are a good God. You are a righeous God. You love us. You know what kind of healing we need and when. It is our hearts that You are after, sweet Jesus. There are all kinds of healing, so help us be grateful with the healing that You choose for us - whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, or physical. You always know best, Lord! In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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