Have you ever asked "is there hope?" I did. I always do.
They say, "at the end of a tunnel there would always be a light" thus making me question my existence, my life - i always feel like my life's a big question, a never ending journey inside a tunnel, too dark, too silent, too lonely, worst: too hopeless.
Once, there was a person in the bible who could definitely claim a hundred-percent credibility of having a never-ending-journey-in-a-tunnel life. His life was literally dark for not having a sense of sight. He is Bartimaeus, a blind man from the city of Jericho. Yet Bart’s dark-filled life had its grandest shift when he had an encounter with Jesus. [See Mark 10:46-52]
Often times, Bart's life reflects how I lived my life - blinded. Unloved, unworthy, hopeless, these deceptions blinded my eyes to see who I really was. I was living my life in a chamber of lies, making me the person who I wasn't. What's ironic? I was born Christian. I am a pastor's kid and yet I cloaked myself in worldly perspective.
Good news, just like the life of Bartimaues, my life did not have its period on chains or being blinded by deceptions! How to find hope?
When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! [Mark 10:47]
Churchy as it may sound, but it’s the only thing that could save us from the riots in our heads. Yes! the only answer is Jesus Christ. May it be financial, emotional, mental or physical struggles we can always cry out to Him just like what Bart cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me! [Mark 10:48]
There will be times that even after crying out to Jesus, deception’s noise would be a little louder. Sometimes it’s in a form of discouragements, disappointments, failures, pains, sicknesses but whatever noise the world may surround us let our cries to Jesus be louder - it’s not the time to give up rather the time make our cries audacious!
Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. [Mark 10:50]
We all have our own cloaks - something that’s hindering us to grasp hope. Perhaps, it’s a material thing that keeps us busy with the world, a relationship that hinders us to be the person God wants us to be. There is a cloak that God wants us to throw but one thing is for sure when we throw that cloak off and cling to Jesus, we’ll find hope, healing, joy, freedom, love, acceptance and every good thing we’ve been looking for.
It’s not as easy as one, two, three; it takes time, sacrifice, discipline, self-denial and above all the help of the Holy Spirit to be fully free yet in the end, it will be worth it to be able to see again that life with Christ is so beautiful.