In Whom Have You Placed Your Trust?

In Whom Have You Placed Your Trust?

“And Jesus said unto him,
‘Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.’”
- Mark 10:52

There comes a point at the end of various diets, pills, stomach stapling, and numerous crazy attempts at weight loss that you finally say, “If there’s going to be any hope for me at all, Jesus, You’re going to have to do it.”  When you commit your giant to prayer, the devil gets terrified.  When you release the gifts of the Spirit and engage in spiritual warfare against a physical problem, you get to the root of the issue.  Wouldn’t it be great if we all had prayed a little sooner, before all the suffering?

Bartimaeus sat beside the highway because he had adopted the lifestyle of begging in order to survive his condition of blindness.  You can read his story in Mark 10:46-52.  Anytime we have a condition we think will not change we adapt everything to accommodate it, from the way we dress to where we sit to the size of our furniture.  But Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, and even though he had lost his eyes, he had not lost his ears.

Bartimaeus used his hearing to fight for his eyesight.  He listened for a way out of the darkness and he heard that Jesus was passing by.  The Bible says he cries out, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.”  The Amplified Bible adds, “Have mercy on me NOW!”  He called out to the Lord because he knew that if there were going to be changes in his life, God was going to have to do it.

Bartimaeus cried out so much, it irritated people around him.  Many censured him severely, telling him to keep still, but he just called out all the more, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.”  He did not stop calling for Jesus until he got His attention.  Bartimaeus called on the name of the Lord until Jesus stood still.  Then when Jesus called to him, Bartimaeus laid aside his coat and ran to Him.

That coat identified Bartimaeus as a beggar.  It was his source of survival.  He wore it because he had expected to remain on the side of the road, where he could beg for money and food.  But when Bartimaeus heard the voice of the Lord, he suddenly knew he wouldn’t need his beggar’s coat anymore.

Bartimaeus knew the truth before there was evidence of the victory.  Notice how the five weapons worked for him against his blindness.   He was motivated by the hope of being a full-sighted individual.  He understood that responding to the voice of the Lord was going to set him free.  He was convinced the Lord wanted him to see.  He had knowledge that God was able to heal him, because he had heard about so many others who had been healed by Jesus.  And, Bartimaeus trusted that his obedience in responding to the voice of the Lord would get him the results he was after.

Jesus said, “Go your way; your faith has healed you.”  Bartimaeus immediately received his sight and walked with Jesus on the road.

Did you know that the Bible says, “Ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2)?  Jesus said that whatever we ask in His name He will do it (John 14:13).  The word “ask” used in this context is the greek word aiteo, which means “to beg, call for, crave, desire, and require.” (Strongs Concordance, #154)

Have you begged God for help with your weight?  Has your desire to be at your ideal body weight been so evident that your craving for health has consumed your prayer life?

When God gives us the grace to change, we can lay aside the weight, the beggar’s coat, and the provisions we have made to hide the condition we’re in.  We can stop wearing topcoats in August.  We can leap up and come out of hiding.  We can quit wearing drab colors all the time.  We can feel good about ourselves, because we don’t expect to sit on the sidelines again.

For some of us, laying aside the garment means getting rid of the clothes we don’t expect to wear again.  It is an act of faith to say, “I’m not going to come back to this place.”  Be prepared, the tempter will mock, “Suppose you gain weight again.  You’re going to need those someday.”  Do it anyway, as an act of faith, because the truth has set you free.  Someone else can have the clothes.  Determine to use the five river stones of truth.  Then we could just burn the “oversized coat”.

Faith refreshes us, and God gives us weapons to keep armed for future battles:

I am motivated to enjoy an abundant life.

I understand that healthy food energizes God’s plan for my life.

I have conviction that God will help me.

I have knowledge about food that I didn’t have before.

I trust that my obedience to eat right will have godly results.

We’re not going to need the big coat anymore!  We can wear short sleeves in the summer.  Bartimaeus laid aside his coat, because he knew he wasn’t going to be blind again.  He left the coat lying in the place where he used to sit.  When people walked past his old spot on  the road, people probably said, “Whose coat is that?”

“Well that belonged to the blind beggar who used to sit there.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that he’s not blind anymore.”

Our greatest testimony is that big, old coat we leave behind.  We will be able to point to it and say, “That used to be me, but now I’m free.”

Until tomorrow, be blessed!

Remember to DREAM!