The Only Chance
Mark 10:46-52
How often do you cry out for Jesus to help you?
They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. - Mark 10:46-52
When Bartimaeus was told to quiet down, he cried out more loudly. He was not to be silenced.
Do we do that when we feel Jesus hasn’t heard us?
Do we cry out more loudly, with more gusto, or do we assume he is not going to answer us?
Bartimaeus did not want to miss the opportunity to be healed. He knew Jesus was passing by, and this was his only chance.
I wonder if we would be more aggressive in our approach to Jesus if we thought he was passing by and would not be back this way again soon.
Jesus told us that when two or more are gathered in his name, he is with us, so we tend to team up and pray with friends or family, believing he is there and will hear us.
But do we wait for an answer?
When Jesus heard that Bartimaeus was calling for him, he asked that Bartimaeus be brought to him. Then he asked Bartimaeus what he wanted Jesus to do.
I am reminded of when I was a child, and I would call out for Mom from my bedroom. She didn’t always come to me. Instead, she expected me to go to her if it was something important.
Call him here.
If we want attention, we sometimes need to go out of our way to get it. If I came running to Mom, I got her attention.
Now, you might think I am saying that Jesus doesn’t pay attention to us, and that is not where I am going with this. My point is that we pray and we wait. What should we be doing instead?
Approach God with urgency and focus. Be like the child who calls out for Mom and doesn’t get an answer, so he runs to her.
What if we only have one chance to be heard? Wouldn’t we shout with all our might?
And when asked what it is we want, do we make our case fully, or back down?
Jesus prayed to the Father to take the cup from him, but then acquiesced. Not y will but yours.
Do we do that? Or do we keep pressing until we are heard, and then make our case strongly?
I would be willing to bet most of us expect God’s answer to be “No, not this time.”
So, we humbly back down. We bow our heads and walk away. When we do that, we let Jesus pass by.
When we pray, we should pray as though this is the only chance we have to be heard. We should give it our all, not because God is busy or is going to ignore us, but because we need to pray with our whole heart, mind, and soul.
We need to expect miracles, even if in the back of our mind, we don’t believe they can still happen, or at least not for us.
We will all make it to our eternal life with God, and that knowledge can be enough for us to accept whatever comes our way, but sometimes our prayers are not for us.
If you could trade your prayer so that someone else can live, would you do it?
It is something to consider when we don’t hear an answer.
More to come...