Faith

"As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, "Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!" Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped in his tracks. "Call him over." They called him. "Get up! He's calling you to come!" Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, "What can I do for you?" The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see." "On your way," said Jesus. "Your faith has saved and healed you." In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road. " -Matthew 10:46 - 52

I love Bartimaeus' persistence - he knows the Lord is near and he is calling out for Jesus' help and when everyone around him tries to silence him, he cries out all the louder. It is just such a great image of reaching and calling out to God when everyone else is saying otherwise. I love this story and have read it tons of times but I always just skim over where it says, "throwing off his coat" but that is the best part of the story! Apparently, in Jesus' time the blind beggars were required to wear red outer garments so that everyone coming down the road would know they were blind and not able to move out of the way very well. So, not only does Bartimaeus cry out to God despite what everyone else is saying, but he also jumps to his feet and throws off his cloak (a symbol of his blindness) as he draws near to Jesus fully expecting to be healed. It took courage for Bartimaeus to cry out in such a way to Christ but it was not his shouts that Jesus responded to; even non-Christians will cry out to God for help when life gets really tough. It was how Bartimaeus threw off his coat and stepped toward Jesus with bold faith, in anticipation of a miracle - that is what lead Christ to say "your faith has saved you and healed you." Mark 11:24 says, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." What is the point in asking for God to do something if you doubt it will be done even before you ask? Granted, God does not always answer every prayer with a yes but we still should, in faith, prepare to receive what we ask for. So once a month I make a point of getting a little something for Riley for when she is older than her predicted lifespan, this month it was a 2T size of pink gellies (I used to love those shoes when I was little!). It is not enough for me to cry out for mercy but I have to act as thought I am going to receive it.

Thanks for all of your love & prayers and please keep the prayers going - Riley has pneumonia again, but she is handling it much better this time and is at home! (every other time we have been in the ICU for at least a week). Please pray that she will get well soon and not have to be admitted to the hospital this time at all.

Love,
Becca