In Exodus 3:7-12, we are reminded that God sees misery, hears crying, and is concerned about suffering. The misery, crying, and suffering causes God to come down to rescue those who are experiencing such. However, God does not come down to do the work. He comes down to delegate the rescue operation to a human being, which in this case is Moses.
Moses tries to excuse himself, but God does not back off. Instead God says – “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt. … I will be with you. … When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
And so, I believe that even to this day, God sees, God hears, and God is concerned about all the suffering and misery in the world. And to this day, God comes down to delegate to us “Jesus followers” his gracious rescue operation of those crying, suffering friends and neighbors living in misery.
But if we do not see misery, if we do not hear crying, we probably have little concern about those who are suffering, and most likely shelve the delegation order and ignore its mandate.
I find inspiration and motivation in my life and witness as a disciple of Jesus from the following words of J. H. Jowett; (A Guide to Prayer, p. 357 – The Upper Room)
It is our God-appointed office to lead men and women who are weary and wayward, exultant or depressed, eager, or indifferent, into “the secret place of the Most High.” We are to help the sinful to the fountain of cleansing, the bond slaves to the wonderful songs of deliverance. We are to help the halt and the lame to recover their lost nimbleness. We are to help the broken-winged into the healing light of “the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” We are to help the sad into the sunshine of grace. We are to help the buoyant to clothe themselves with “the garment of praise.” We are to help redeem the strong from the atheism of despair. We are to help little children to see the glorious attractiveness of God, and we are to help the aged realize the encompassing care of the Father and the assurance of the eternal home.
The story of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52 I think would be Jesus’ response to us who seek to become more God-like in our ability to see, hear, and be concerned about the suffering around us.
According to verse 47, Blind Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” And when he is told to be quiet, he shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” This is the first time that Jesus is publicly called the “Son of David.” In doing so, blind Bartimaeus makes a declaration of faith that he sees something the others are not seeing. He sees and identifies Jesus as the long-awaited Son of David, the promised Messiah.
Being invited, Bartimaeus “threw aside his coat” (used to catch coins), “jumped up” (abandons his sitting position as a beggar), “and came to Jesus” (on his own, without help).
Jesus meets the faith of blind Bartimaeus with the question, “What do you want me to do for you?” The question is open-ended, a blank check, just waiting to be filled in. Bartimaeus says, “Teacher, I want to see!” It is a simple, straightforward request, but one that is much harder to fulfill than a plea for a job or a bag of gold, or even a place of honor in the community.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Remember, Bartimaeus is a beggar, so he could have asked for a bag of gold. He is unemployed, so he could have asked for a job. He had no status in the community, so he could have asked for the respect of others. Instead, he says, “Teacher, I want to see!” I sometimes wonder how I would have responded if I were blind Bartimaeus.
“Go, your faith has healed you” says Jesus. And “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” What else can you imagine him doing?
Yes, this was a physical healing, but I believe Jesus can also heal our spiritual and social blindness as well. He can fully cleanse and heal our eyes, allowing us to see as he sees, if only we would ask, “Teacher, I want to see!” He is always inviting us with his question, “What do you want me to do for you?”
In his song, “Blowing in the Wind” Bob Dylan asks some hard questions that I think calls for our personal response.
“How many times must a man look up / Before he sees the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have / Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head / And pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.”
“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – 5/13/2020
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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