Ready For God’s Goodness
Perhaps the best posture to have before God is a posture of humility and truth. Miracles happen in such a place.
God gives some things to us without our knowledge. He works by his wisdom in ways we don’t understand. But some things in God seem to be set before us as an invitation we can accept or deny. A posture of humility and truth leads us to reach out as the invitation comes our way. Luke 18:35-38 ESV tells us a story about a blind man encountering Jesus.
As he drew near to 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 Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus walked into the world of this blind beggar on the fringes. Murmurs and sounds of activity stirred around him. The sound of feet walking and people talking. The taste of dust stirring in the air. The smell of animals and food with the company on their journey. The blind man reached out to someone on the edge of the crowd, and they told him Jesus was coming down the street.
The blind man did not miss the opportunity to reach out to God. He cried out through the crowd, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. But the blind man did not need the Son of Nazareth. He needed the Son of David—the Messiah.
The story continues in Luke 18:41-43 ESV.
“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.
I’ve puzzled over this strange encounter. Did Jesus not know what the man needed? What about the many times the gospels tell us that Jesus knew the thoughts of the people around him? Was Jesus testing the man in some way? Couldn’t Jesus perceive that this man, dirty and outcast, was looking for the restoration of his sight?
I get the sense that this outcast was no shy character. He spent his life creatively capturing the attention of those passing by. Any timidity would only result in a hungry stomach and a cold night. I don’t think this would have been the first time he tried to interrupt a crowd passing by. In fact, the behavior was so normal that most of the people in the front of Jesus’ crowd instinctively hushed him and dismissed his voice.
But Jesus called him over. Those who wanted to silence the beggar were commanded to put their shoulders under his arms and lead him to Jesus. And there, with everyone watching, Jesus asks the question of grace. “What do you want me to do for you?”
Sometimes, God works in our lives in ways we don’t understand or perceive. Sometimes he moves in our lives before we even know what we need. Sometimes, he walks down our street, listening for those who would call out to the Son of David.
To enter into this kind of encounter, our hearts must be set in humility. We must be willing to go low and look foolish to capture the attention of Jesus (or to break through those who think they are protecting Jesus). We must have a mindset of truth. We need to know precisely why we are seeking God and what we need from him.
In humility and truth, we can cry out to God even when the likelihood of his response seems small. We might discover a desperation for freedom that we didn’t dare to see before. And, in our desperation, we might ask for something as radical as the complete healing of our sight.
Is Christ Jesus walking down your street? Would you have the humility to call out to him? When he turns and asks you what you need, would you speak the truth?
