One early morning, after a fierce storm had hit the coast, I strolled to the beach for my morning walk. Horrified, I saw that tens of thousands of starfish had been washed up on the beach by the winds and waves. I was saddened by the realization that all of them would die, stranded on the shore, away from the life-giving water. Despairing that there was nothing I could do, I sat down on the sand and put my head in my hands.

But then I heard a sound, and I lifted my eyes. There, in the distance, I saw a man bending down and then standing up, bending down and standing up. Curious, I rose and walked toward him. I saw that he was picking up the starfish, one at a time, and throwing them back in the sea.

“What are you doing?” I yelled.
“Saving the starfish,” he replied.
“But don’t you see, man, that there are tens of thousands of them?” I asked, incredulous. “Nothing you can do will make a difference.”

He did not answer me but instead bent down, picked up another starfish, and cast it back in the water. Then he smiled, looked me in the eye, and said, “It made a difference to that one.”

When I read that parable in the book “The Hole In Our Gospel” the idea of making it personal became clear.

Then I started to think about Jesus and the example he set. I used to look at Jesus’ miracles as Jesus displaying his power to people. Oh wow, Jesus did it again! Great job on healing that leper!

Then it hit me. Jesus made it personal. The stories that were recorded about the miracles he performed are personal stories. Jesus heals a man with leprosy, Jesus heals a blind man, Jesus and the rich young ruler, the faith of the Roman Officer, Jesus raises a widow’s son, etc. Even when he fed the 5,000, the lesson became personal for his disciples.

Jesus was relational. He healed on a personal level. We should do the same. Love and serve others on a personal level and build relationships that last longer than a few moments. One person at a time.

“Don’t fail to do something, because you can’t do everything.” – Bob Pierce

People kept asking the blind beggar, “Who healed you? What happened?” He responded many times with:

“The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” – John 9:11

He told that to his family, his friends and then told the Pharisees. He was telling everyone what happened to him. The change that had taken place. He didn’t fully understand everything, but he was eager to tell. I am not even sure if the beggar had even seen Jesus yet, but he sure did experience him.

Then he was brought in a second time by the Pharisees for more questioning and something amazing happened. A picture of a “marked change.” The Pharisees told him that “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.” His response is beautiful:

I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

He didn’t have all the answers! He didn’t have all the knowledge. But what he was sure of was that he had been changed. That he had a divine appointment and his life has been forever changed.

Sometimes in life we attribute spiritual maturity to head knowledge. How smart the person is. Dare we say, “I don’t have all the answers…but I know this. I had an encounter with the living God that has changed me forever. I want to tell others about it and I will not be scared because I don’t have all the answers. I was blind, but now I can see.”

An encounter with the living God through spit and mud. There is nothing God cannot do.

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his desciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parent’s sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” – John 9:1-3

The power of God can be found in everything. I’m not sure how old this blind man was, but can you imagine being blind for so many years? Going through life not seeing. Suffering and hardships were not new to this man. He had spent years dealing with them.  Do you think he lost hope?  I hate to admit it, but I would have.  It’s tough to see hope in suffering.

Then one day Jesus came walking by.

And the man became lesson #65,948 to the disciples.  Using spit and mud (Jesus spit, so I am NOT stopping anytime soon), he rubbed it on his eyes and told him to go wash his face in the pool of Siloam.  Now, I am not a bible scholar by any means, but I took it that Jesus went on his way after that.  He didn’t stick around to see the end result.  I imagine the disciples taking furious notes on their lesson.  Probably turned the page on that lesson and was ready for the next one, but the lesson wasn’t over.

God’s power being shown through the blind beggar was just getting started…

“Sometimes God has us on a long journey, trudging uphill. We can only see the dirt path with no way to see over the hill to the destination. Perhaps if we saw where we were going, we would be planning what we would do when we got there: where we would visit, sites to see, places to eat. We would completely overlook the journey. We would miss the sites along the way, the sunsets and sunrises, because we would be so consumed with the final arrival.

I challenge you to enjoy the walk you’re on, saturate yourself in the experience, remember where you are walking through and encourage other stragglers on the way. Because over that hill is something far more wonderful than you can imagine. This is your journey, your walk, your story, only you can choose how you handle the “lay-overs.” God has never let you down and he’s not going to start today.”

That message was written on the inside of a card and left on my car for me to find. On a day where my most earnest prayers were lifted up and trust was getting tougher and tougher, I received this. On a day where I prayed “If success to you God means you want me to be homeless and glorify you that way, I will be homeless. I only want what you want,” and I actually meant it… this shows up.

Thank you so much to whoever it was that wrote that on a card and placed it on my car. Thank you for that blessing and encouragement. I can never thank you enough.

Dear Reader,

I hope those words will also speak to your heart and you will click off my blog knowing that God has never let you down and he’s NOT going to start today. Make it a priority to remind someone of that today.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9