Be Persistent

When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. (Mark 8:22-25 (NLT)

Many times, in life, we face resistance or opposition to our plans and pursuits.  We find this to be the way of life where we must learn to sail, not only with favorable winds but also against opposing winds to reach the desired destination.  Our marriage relationships are a part of life that sometimes seems to be overrun with opportunities for conflict and disagreement, but I want to encourage you to be persistent in your pursuit of harmony.

The scripture above speaks of townspeople who had brought their request to Jesus, desiring that He heal their blind friend.  Imagine the boldness and high expectation of the community to see a miracle performed, not to mention the blind man’s own anticipation.  Jesus, being the representative of His Father God’s love and desire to meet humanity’s needs, agreed to minister to the man.  Sometimes, in our lives, we find that everything does not come out exactly as we aspired after the first encounter.  Here Jesus ministers to the blind man and then asked him how he saw.  The man responded that his eyesight was better than before but still not all that was expected.  Have you ever had an experience like this in your life, and what did you do?

In the story, we find that Jesus laid His hands on the man again with the result that now the once blind man’s eyes were completely restored.  Many of us give up on the relational situations in our marriages after having confronted them once or maybe numerous times.  But when you believe that God hears and is willing to assist and minister healing to your personal situation, you will be willing to address the issue again, remembering always to wait on God’s best to ultimately be delivered.  In this instance, the persistence in prayer was rewarded with full restoration and affirmation of God’s true intention.

We must be committed and persistent in our belief in God’s determination to be a promise-keeping, faithful deliverer of those who stand or wait in faith.  Don’t be discouraged when your first or third approach to God’s plan for your life meets resistance.  Persist in the pursuit of God’s plan of marital harmony and satisfaction.  Understand that it is God’s plan that will produce the greatest blessing and life satisfaction. Remember what Psalms 37:5 says, “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you” (NLT).