(This is an excerpt from Ben’s book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God. Hope it blesses!)[i]
Rabbi, let me see again. Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus
—Matthew 10:51
Can a blind man remember the colors he had seen before he entered the gates of darkness? Is there a place in the memories of his soul to bathe in the glimmer of the sunrise, to be mesmerized by the brilliance of light scaling the walls of the night, launching themselves into the horizons of the coming day? What is it about the leaves of the forest interceding in the pathways of the winds or a little child looking up into the rains as they fall upon the earth?
When God looked at his creation, he saw that it was good. He looked at it. He took it in. He assessed his work. It was good. And the blind man wants to see what God sees. What we all can see, if we only look.
He sat in the familiar place he sat every day. He remembered the very moment when this goodness of seeing slipped away. It was not death, but it was a death of sorts. The beauty of all things lost their shape—the smile of a child, the affirmation of a friend’s glance, the playfulness of a toddler. All gone into darkness, there in the fog, there in the night. Close at hand, yet hidden from him, they are cloaked in this shroud, always evading his reach. All memories in his soul, reminding him every day, every moment, every instant of what he had once known yet failed to fully embrace.
There are tears in this blind beggar’s soul, streaming from his heart for the wanting of this gift of goodness that had been taken from him. Tears of lostness in the void, surrounded by voices of dearness and hate, yet voices nonetheless, in his dark world. This blind beggar longs for sustenance not just of body, but of beauty, wholeness, and goodness. And color. He longed for the simple beauty of color.
The voices around him this morning were chaotic. They were a maelstrom churning in his ears, bringing weariness to his mind. Then he heard a new voice. He heard the crowd, but this day, he heard one lone voice distinct from the others. Could this be the one he had heard of?
He would yell and shout. But no one would listen to a blind beggar, “Have mercy on me!”
In that moment, the Creator of all things good, the designer of beauty, the one who made sight itself, stopped to listen to this blind beggar.
“Call him.” His voice was compassion, strength, and authority.
Can a blind man ever see the colors he had seen before he entered the gates of darkness? Is it possible to bathe again in the glimmer of the sunrise and to be mesmerized by the brilliance of light scaling the walls of the night, launching themselves into the horizons of the coming day? Can a blind man ever again see the goodness that God has made?
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Could he do this? Could he really do this? Could he really restore that which was taken, that so precious that was lost? The same voice that spoke into the night so long ago, and in that speaking, light itself was born into the world now spoke into his very soul.
And light was restored. And God saw that it was good.
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[i] Bounds, Ben. The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God: Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, 2017, 101–102. Reprinted by permission.
Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay
©2019 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.
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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:
"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”
If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).
Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.
Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page.
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Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.
Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).
Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.
Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.
Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.
©2022 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.
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