²⁷ When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!”
²⁸ And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”

Matthew 9:27-29 [NKJV]

Today’s reflection involves two slightly longer passages, one from the book of Matthew, and the other from James 2. Part of my reason for posting my daily bread reflections online way back when, was because I hoped that through my own journey of seeking God, and understanding how we as Christians can apply the word of God practically into our daily lives; I would be able to then share what I’ve learned/deciphered from the Bible. But it is also to share how the word of God has been impacting/changing me on a daily basis.

Persistent Faith in Action (It is Not Enough to Just Believe in Something)

So that is where I like to begin today’s word of the day – taking action. When I first accepted Christ at the age of 21, I was only led to believe that faith is all about believing in God. While that is not entirely off the mark, it’s only half correct. Because faith is more than just about believing. It is also about taking action.

In the story about the two blind men that were healed, most believers would often miss the most crucial part of the story. No, it’s not about Jesus healing them, although sure, that is certainly a miracle by itself. Something to be praised. But no, it’s not that. What we should’ve focused on was the persistence of the two men. When they asked Jesus for help to heal them, they didn’t just asked for it verbally and stopped there. When Jesus didn’t answer them immediately, they kept on persisting, following Jesus and kept crying out to Him to help heal them. They not only believed that Jesus could & would heal them, they also persisted in asking Him for that help.

While this hasn’t occurred to me before, it has helped me to realize something about ourselves (“as believers”). We sometimes want God’s help with something in our lives, so we would pray for it, ask for it. And then after a few days, and there appears to be no answer from Him, we would give up trying. Sounds familiar? It is. Because imagine what would’ve happened if those two blind men had not persisted in asking Jesus for His help. They would probably never be healed.

First, allow me to admit that I’ve done that, more times that I like to count. There had been times when I felt like I really needed God’s help with something in my life. And I would pray and cry out to Him. But then there would be no answer, no response. So yes, naturally, I began to wonder if God was even listening to my prayers to begin with. That’s when doubt begins to sip in, and I would eventually stop asking. I gave up.

The thing that I should’ve done was to persist. I should’ve persist when I decided to stop asking for help.

Real Evidence of Faith Comes From Doing the Work

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:18 [NKJV]

The second part of our reflection today comes from a much larger passage in James 2. But I’ll just focus in on one verse (while taking into consideration of the context of the entire passage), verse 18. One of the key reasons why I began this daily effort to read, study and understand the bible, is because I wanted to stop acting like a Christian, and actually be one. It’s always much easier for a believer to claim that they have faith in God. But the true test of whether we really have faith in God is by looking at our actions, and how we choose to live each and every day, and especially during times of hardships and tribulations in our lives.

The story of the two blind men being healed is a nice example of what persistent faith can do for us, but it is only one example. In the real world that we live in today, faith in action can come in many different forms. For example, to say that I have faith in God that He has already prepared the right job opportunity for me, also means that I am constantly acting on that faith by being persistent in my daily efforts to send out job applications (even if I haven’t heard much of anything back for over 2 years now. Yeah, there were a few responses, but so few, I feel mostly ignored).

Hey Faith, come meet Opportunity

This one lesson did take me quite a while to grasp, but when I finally did a few years ago, it totally changed my situation around. So, like a reminder, I feel like I need to once again think about how this can apply to my current circumstances.

Even for those of us that aren’t believers/Christians, having faith, is a lot like taking action because of something that you believe in. It’s about putting in the due diligence and hard work to prepare yourself so that when the time comes for you to meet the right opportunity, you are already ready for it.

Reflecting on this also helped me to understand that everything that I’ve been trying to do for the past week is on the right track. Instead of dwelling on what I cannot control, I’ve instead been focusing on the things that I do right now – the work, that preparation and due diligence so that when the time comes for me to meet the right job opportunity that has been meant for me, I’ll be more than ready to take it on.

The only thing that I need to do, more than anything else, is to keep reminding myself to be persistent in my faith, and not to give up no matter how challenging the current times might be.

Personal Prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father,

I come before You today, deeply humbled by the current circumstances in my life and the challenges that I’m currently facing right now.

I’ve been crying out to You, praying and asking for Your help. So, thank You for reminding me not to give up, but to keep persisting.

Even though I don’t know Your entire plan or purpose for me, I know You. I continue to believe and trust that You have already made a way for me. So I will keep persisting until that becomes a reality.

Thank You for also letting me know that what I’m currently doing is on the right path. That, in this very moment, the only thing I can really do, is to focus on doing the work. Preparing myself, getting ready and being ready for when the right opportunity presents itself in due time.

In all of that, Father God, I have faith. I have faith that You are already helping me along. I may not be able to see it right now, but I know, and that is enough.

I vow to give You all the praises. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Amen.