A blind man sits on the roadside outside Jericho. He hears a crowd, learns Jesus is passing by, and starts shouting. People tell him to be quiet. He shouts louder. When Jesus finally stops and asks him a simple question, that question becomes one of the clearest pictures of faith in the whole Gospel of Mark.

What Do You Want Me To Do For You

Jesus asks Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46 to 52, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee. It is a strange question to ask a blind man. Isn’t it obvious what he wants? But Jesus places the responsibility on Bartimaeus to name it. He answers plainly, that I might receive my sight. Notice the word he chooses. Not give me sight, but receive my sight. He already claims it as his before it shows up. That is not presumption. That is faith defining its target.

Receiving Is Not The Same As Striving

Scripture is full of people who positioned themselves to receive rather than strain to earn. The man at the gate called Beautiful in Acts 3 stretched out his hand expecting to receive something, and his feet and ankle bones received strength the moment he stopped waiting and started expecting. James 1:5 to 8 warns that a wavering, double minded person is like a wave tossed by the wind. Faith is single minded. It knows what it is asking for and it does not keep changing its mind about whether God is willing to give it.

Define The What And Trust God With The How

You are responsible for naming what you desire and bringing it to God with honesty. You are not responsible for engineering how it happens. Romans 12:1 and 2 calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Fear, doubt, and indecision are the real obstacles, not God’s willingness.

Bartimaeus did not receive his sight because he understood theology. He received it because he asked clearly and believed simply. That is still available to anyone willing to shout past the crowd.

-Terrence Burton