Heaven's Will and Earth Collide

What is it that stopped Jesus in His tracks to tend to Bartimaeus' need in Luke 18:35-43? 

Here's a man who thought money or goods were his greatest need as he sat on the road begging that day.  That is until he overhears that Jesus is passing by.   Something stirs within him.  His spirit leaps when he hears that the Man of Compassion is in his midst.   Faith arises.  Bartimaeus becomes desperate to receive more than what a fallen world had dealt him.   He becomes bold.   He pushes past the fear of men; men, who had sight, yet were blind to what his soul was reaching for.   He refuses to keep silent.   He no longer accepts “the bad report,” but to trust in the Name above all names. 

 

Heaven’s will and earth collided that day.  Bartimaeus walked away with far more than eyes that could see, but a life changing encounter with Love Himself.  

 

 

Begging for what I thought

To be life’s greatest need

Until Love’s presence passed me by

And my soul cried to be freed

 

Refusing to keep quiet

A heart in desperate plea

To reach the ears of Messiah

Simple words - that I believe

 

Unashamed persistence

Abandoned fear of man

Confident pursuit in the One

Who holds my need in His hands

Relentless in pursuit

Crying out all the more

The King of Glory turns to me

“What is it your soul longs for?”

 

Simple faith and confidence

Stopped Mercy in His tracks

Healing my sight to fully see

True Love move on my behalf

 

-etb

Spills

 

"I need ALL of you," the Lord spoke. 

 

The good.  The bad.  The ugly.  The pain.  The struggles.  The frustrations.  The questions.

 

 ALL. 

 

Notice He didn't say He "wants."  Though He does want us, in order to work in us, He NEEDS us.  He needs our cooperation.

 

Sweeping things under the rug has to stop.  It's impossible to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, body, and strength, if we don't give Him all of it.   Secrets in any relationship destroy intimacy.  Even with God.  We need to expose to Him the things He already sees.  This will open our ears to hear Him more clearly to what He is saying to us.   This grants Him permission to begin to heal and adjust our mindsets that don’t align with His.  He won't pull His love from us.  He won’t ignore us.  He won’t mistreat us when we become vulnerable to Him.  We can trust Him.

 

What remains hidden can’t be fixed.  When a spill is not dealt with or is carelessly spot cleaned, damage is done.  In order to fix the "spills" in our lives, we have to confront them head on by allowing God to shine His healing presence on our condition.  When our "free will" chooses to let God in, He then has something to work with.  

 

We need to trust that whatever He tells us is for our benefit and the benefit of others.  Trust Him that even if what He tells us is painful at the moment, it is always for our greater good.  He may require you to rip out the flooring to get to the damage.  You will be working alongside the Carpenter of your soul to tear out and restore a messy foundation.  Not an easy task.  It will be uncomfortable.  It will be ugly.   It will hurt.   It may cause every fiber of your being to want to give up and start sweeping again.   NO MORE SWEEPING! 

 

I challenge myself - I challenge you - to surrender your ALL.  Work with God as He works in you.  Expect Him to do some rearranging because He will.   He won't always do what we are comfortable with because His ways are different, but they are right.   His purpose is always to get you to the side of His will for you.  The process isn't always a quick work, but anything rushed is rarely done well.

 

Quiet yourself.  Wait on Him.  His voice is calling out, "I need ALL of you."

 

 

 

(Matthew 22:37, Isaiah 55:9, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 139:23, Psalm 51:10-12, Isaiah 53:4-5, Psalm 30:11, Jeremiah 29:11, Jeremiah 18:4)