Desperate Faith!

In Mark 10:46-52 we read of the healing of blind Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was around and cried out loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”. Look at the contrasting reactions of the crowds, and of Jesus. The crowd told him to shut up. Who did he think he was? However, the man was not to be deterred. So why was he not deterred? There were two factors, and these were working together. First, there was his condition, being blind. This was highly debilitating and he was desperate, or at least very keen, to be healed. The second was that he had faith in Jesus. When these two things work together we will act in ways that others cannot understand, nor will they be able to stop us! There is a strength to being desperate and full of faith. It is also why the world will not overcome the church. A world without God is a desperate place to live in, there is a loss of all sorts of things, including freedom and tolerance. Indeed, we see this happening in the West at present. Have you noticed how utterly unforgiving and unmerciful the world is? No matter how hard the world tries, there are always people who still have faith in the Lord. Many a society has tried to squash this, but none have succeeded. The world, by its nature, produces desperate people. The Holy Spirit produces faith in people, and the world cannot stop the Spirit.

In contrast to the crowd, Jesus welcomed the man. Jesus delights in people who have faith in Him. And, of course, Jesus healed the man. In fact, He said “your faith has healed you”. So if you are feeling desperate, do not listen to the voices around you, but call out to Jesus in faith. The world may tell us to shut up, but Jesus will welcome us with open arms.