Remember the blind man in Mark? “ Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything?" -Mark 8:23 I’ve heard or read this passage so many times. I’ve pondered the miracle of sight and what the man must have experienced and what it might have been like to witness it. I’ve pondered the ways in which I’m blind and the ways God has helped me to see. Maybe it’s being a tired, touched-out mom who is sooo done with boogers wiped on shirts, but last time I came across these words, only one thing stuck out to me: Spit. Jesus put spit in the mans eyes.
Aside from it being God’s spit, (Holy saliva!) uhm, Lord, that’s kinda gross. (Did anyone ever give you a wet-willy? It’s where you lick your finger and stick it in someone’s ear. Ew.) God, right now I feel like you’re putting spit in my eyes. What are you doing exactly? Because for a little bit there, the man was still blind, and Jesus was just slathering spit on his eyes, and it probably felt really strange. I’ve had a lot of bodily fluids land on me unexpectedly, and would think I’m pretty tolerant of a lot, but in my eyes? No thank you. I’m running to the bathroom to get that off. Usually spitting on people is a way of abusing them - showing your disgust - but here Jesus is using it for healing and restoration. Did the man have this profound trust that God was doing this for a reason? Or was he kinda cynical and prone to complaining like I am? I’d much rather have Jesus just use some healing breath rather than doing something that is somewhat slimy. And yet this God of ours likes using the messy, raw, very tactile reality to bring about amazing things. So what are you doing now Lord? Because right now, I feel like I have to endure some really stupid stuff that’s just irritating. There seems no reason for it. I just want to wipe it off. I can’t see the miracle that you might bring from it. I don’t know if I trust you enough to allow the miracle to happen. I don’t feel you laying your hands on me. I’m too focused on the spit in my eyes. Right now I just feel like my eyes are slimy with spit out of someone else’s mouth. All I can think about it getting it off. Anyone have a wash cloth? And yet - this Holy saliva of God is more powerful that mommy spit (aka formula 401), and sometimes I need to just thank God for touching me, even if his approach seems odd. Didn’t someone mention “Your ways are so far above our ways?” It’s easy to ask for God to make us Holy, it’s not easy to be okay with how God might want to do it sometimes. But sometimes a little spit in the eyes is just the thing to allow us to see.
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March 2017
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