Trusting God’s Vision For Our Life When It’s Scary

Trusting God’s vision means trusting the will of God over our lives.

As Christians, we are constantly asking God for more clarity and vision when it comes to things that we are uncertain about. For more on uncertainty, check out this post. As much as we’re told to step out on faith, we have to be sure those steps are ordered by God. Otherwise, those very steps may lead us into situations that God isn’t in.

I have a little activity for you. Close your eyes and imagine what it’s like to move around in a world where you aren’t able to see. It’s pretty scary right? Keep that same heart posture as you continue to read.

Blind Vision

As a preface, Jesus was in the midst of performing miracle after miracle. He fed 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread. And yet, His disciples asked for a sign to test His authority. I imagine Jesus was annoyed after having performing miracle after miracle and have His disciples doubt Him still. And so begins the story of Him healing a blind man at Bethsaida.

Mark 8:22-23

²² They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

Mark 8:22-23 (NIV)

I find it so interesting that Jesus led the man to the unfamiliar, outside of his village. This text perpetuates how God will often isolate you when He’s ready to give you spiritual sight. It also confirms that breakthrough won’t always come in our comfort zone or familiar places. Oftentimes, God will lead you to something blindly. And you have to be able to trust in order to allow Him to take your hand and lead you blindly.

Even more scary than being led out of your comfort zone is hearing someone preparing to spit on you. Jesus is cool people. I think we can all agree that Jesus is cool people. However, the thought of having someone else’s spit on you is a bit disturbing. I wondered why saliva.

According to Delta Dental, saliva has healing properties. It aids in speeding up the healing of wounds. Additionally, it was personally from Jesus. Nothing is more personal and intimate than bodily fluids. Vision requires you to be close and intimate with Jesus.

However, the man in this text is blind and he could not see Jesus using his own spit. He could only hear it and try to make sense of it to the best of his ability. Heaven keeps some secrets only for the benefit of you.

If we knew certain things prematurely, we would automatically want out of God’s vision for our lives. Occasionally, God throws out visions that require great sacrifice and discomfort. If God told us we had to lose some of our closest friends in order to get to the next level, we’d want out. Additionally, if he told us we had to spend our Friday nights at church instead of at the club, we’d want out. I imagine if He told the man, he had to use spit for healing, he would want out or at least be hesitant.

Heaven has to keep some secrets so we won’t miscarry our destiny.

Mark 8:23-24

²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Mark 8:23-24 (NIV)

I always wondered why Jesus asks questions in the text. Of course He was both human and spirit. But I wondered why He asked questions as if He wasn’t, you know, Jesus. I imagine the son of God would know it all and wouldn’t need to ask this man about his sight. It dawned on me that God often asks questions because they’re rhetorical to heaven, but reflective to us.

When God asks a question that He already knows the answer to, it’s more thought provoking than anything else. It forces us to reflect and come to conclusions that we otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to ourselves.

For example, the woman accused of adultery and at risk of being stoned in John 8: 1-11. Jesus asked a question after her accusers realized they had no right to throw stones because they weren’t without sin. Jesus had to ask the woman a thought provoking question in order for her to realize what had just happened.

From Blind to Blurry

It’s funny to me because the man answered and said he saw men as trees. The text never goes into whether or not the man had always been blind or not. My guess is that he had. So he wouldn’t have been able to differentiate between a tree or a person because he had never seen either. But when God gives us vision, He positions us to comprehend from the lenses of His understanding. Which is why scripture says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).

Mark 8: 25-26

²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into^[a] the village.”

Mark 8: 25-26 (NIV)

It’s interesting how Jesus repaired the man’s sight in stages. In other miracles performed, He would speak a word or perform an action in a full step. But in this case, Jesus took His time and performed this miracle in two parts. There is something about the in between that is important. There’s something about God giving us the time to reflect and ask the hard questions when He’s leading us. But the text is also reflective of how God gives us spiritual visions. Just like we have quick visions and dreams that we can’t quite put our finger on or totally understand. We see our visions like the man saw men as trees. Blurry.

But God will continue to put His hands in it and on us to give us more clarity and understanding. It takes trusting Him to lead you even when you feel blind and its scary.

And Jesus told the man, don’t go into the village because we have to have discretion and discernment when it comes to vision. You can’t tell everyone everything.

I submit to you this: hold your visions close to your chest. Because everyone doesn’t need to know the sacred things that happen between you and God.

May God continue to speak to you and open your spiritual eyes.