What do you choose?

Your faith should carry you where your physical sight cannot guide you...

This thought came to my mind the other day as I read through the ninth chapter of John.  I think the story in this chapter is one of the more well known stories of Jesus' miracle-working.  But, if you're unfamiliar, i'll give a basic run-down of the chapter.  Jesus happens upon a man who was blind from birth.  This man had, since he was born, never seen the light of day, his family, his surroundings; NOTHING.  Jesus knelt in the dirt, spat in the ground to make a mud or clay, rubbed the mud on the man's blind eyes and then told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.  The man went and washed and received his sight.  When the people around him, neighbors, and everyone who knew this man had been blind all his life saw him walking around with sight, they questioned whether this was the same man they had known to be blind since birth.  Once they were convinced that it was the same man, they questioned him, "How were, thine eyes opened?".  So of course the man told them that someone named Jesus had made mud, anointed his eyes with it, and told him to go wash.  The people did not believe him.  They asked him again and again, even asked his parents, to tell them how he had received his sight.  THREE TIMES this man told the story of how he was healed and yet the people continued to press him with questions.  Finally, in verse 27 he said "I've told you over and over and you haven't listened.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Are you so eager to become his disciples?" (MSG)

After reading this, there were two points that really stuck with me.  The first is that Jesus rubbed mud in a blind man's eyes then told him to go wash in a specific pool.  Now remember.  This man had been blind SINCE BIRTH which means that he had never seen any pool let alone a specific pool.  Perhaps he had heard neighbors and family members talk about the pools, maybe he had been close enough to hear people splashing in the water and enjoying the pools, perhaps he had even been carried to the pools as a child.  But he had never seen them to find them.  So Jesus rubs mud on the eyes of a man who had never seen anything (Jesus made SURE he couldn't see!) and then gave him instructions to go to a certain pool and wash.  So how was this man able to follow the instructions that Jesus gave him?  Well, I think that he already had his internal sight.  I'm sure as a sightless boy becoming a sightless man, he wished, hoped, prayed, and dreamt of the day that he might be able to walk around and live his life as a whole individual.  He imagined himself with sight so much that it became a reality to him.  He thought about it, dreamt about it, maybe even went so far as to ask people to describe to him what it was like.  Maybe he knew about the pools in the town and asked people where they were located in relation to where he lived.  Sight was an internal reality waiting to be encountered rather than a lofty dream that would probably never come true.  And then the day came when someone could actually do something about his blindness.  He was ready to receive his healing.  He had prepared himself so much for his breakthrough that when the instructions on how to experience it fully were given, he was ready, willing, and ABLE to follow them.  Instead of allowing the physical reality of his situation to cause him to despair, he chose to believe, obey and stretch his faith.  Finally, he received the physical and outward manifestation of what his faith had created for him internally.  And so...his faith was able to carry him to a place that he could not find with his physical sight.
The second point that stuck with me is the fact that this man, after he could see with his physical eyes, told everyone who asked how he received his sight.  He told his neighbors, his family, the Pharisees and leaders of his town what happened.  He told his story three times!  And yet the people could not, would not accept the story he was telling them.  Have you ever been in this type of situation?  Something wonderful happens to you and people ask you how it happened.  You tell them.  They don't believe you.  You tell them again.  They don't believe you.  You tell them YET AGAIN and they STILL don't believe you.  Finally you say "Look!  I've already told you what happened.  You obviously don't believe me, so why are you still asking?!?!  Is hearing it a fourth time gonna make you believe what you didn't believe the first three times?".  And that's what this man said!  I wonder if this was the way Jesus felt in those days.  He had already performed so many miracles yet, there were people who refused to believe in Him even though his words and actions did nothing but free people from their own bondage.  I wonder if Jesus ever wanted to say "You people are, clearly, not going to believe or trust me.  So let me just go back to heaven and let you all figure it out for yourselves."
These past few weeks, i've have been praying on a very specific topic and I've received some assurance that what I am praying for is going to happen.  I've asked God for confirmation so that I would know that the assurance was coming from Him and not just my own desire to get my way.  Again, i've received more confirmation from God.  So when I read this chapter and the response of this man to the naysayers and unbelievers, I kind of felt like God was giving me a gentle check; "Tryphena, i've already told you what i'm going to tell you.  Either you're going to believe or not believe.".
These are lessons that I believe we all must learn:
1) We must learn to believe God when he answers our questions and provides confirmation
AND
2) We should be so full of faith in Him that when He gives us instructions on how to operate in a certain circumstance, our faith should carry us to the healing or deliverance that we may not be able to perceive with our physical senses.

I choose to believe.
I choose to grow my faith.
What do you choose?