Living in This (...); Waiting for This (!)

What do you think of when you hear the word "miracle?" It has to be unbelievable, right? Like water to wine, or a funeral procession brought to a dead stop (pun intended) when the corpse is ordered to get up -- and does! Miracles are supernatural events, but I think there is a tendency to expect instant supernatural events.

In Mark 8:22-26, Jesus heals a blind man. But this miracle is a little different from the others recorded in the Gospels:

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.

And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”

We all see it (no pun intended here). It almost seems as though there's an OOPS! We want to ask, "Why wasn't he healed the first time?" We might even rank it below other miracles -- you know, 'cause "it didn't take the first time." Well, Jesus was making a point, a point I'm going to save for another day. My point is, why do we think miracles are only miracles if they happen instantaneously, within moments of us praying for them. Or, from the minute we see an improvement in our situation, we expect a favorable and full resolution before the next downturn. 

Let me first say, God is God and we are not. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways. There is no other god but God Almighty. He does things as He wills, and He is always on time.

The other thing is, I'm sure you're familiar with this little doodad: ... It's an ellipsis. It's a tool of punctuation that can indicate parts of a quote have been removed, maybe because they are not quite necessary to support your position. An ellipsis is also be used to intensify suspense. The end is coming, but wait for it... BOOM! Before you know it, there it is! An ellipsis can also replace a thought or leave the reader to infer the writer's thought. Here's the purpose for the grammar lesson: we would all much rather live in the ! Wouldn't we? We want our miracle, we want it now, and we don't want to struggle through it. Take for instance that diagnosis. Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up and find we're healed? We don't want round after round of treatments; we don't want setbacks; we don't want a manageable condition. We want death to life ! restoration. 

It's hard living in an ellipsis. There are parts of the story omitted to us. Parts we can't see. We may not know why things are happening this way or if they will change. We're not looking for the "WOW" factor on a payment plan. We just want out. We want to get back to the way things were before the bankruptcy, or the divorce, or the funeral. "Let's do the ! and I'll tell my story, and people will think it's great, and we can move on." We want all the facts. We want to see the end right from the beginning. Living in an ellipsis just leaves us with too many questions, too many sleepless nights, too many tears, and too many doubts. But God is working. I've lived through one or two ... in my time. I'm living in a few right now. If I trust who God is, I know He has left some parts of the story out -- at least from where I'm sitting. Will I know them by four o'clock this afternoon? Maybe. Or, the entire story may never be revealed to me until I'm bowing in His presence. Will I know the exuberance of an unexpected plot twist? Maybe. Or, it may happen slowly, as a vision becoming clearer, but no less miraculous. 

We need to enjoy our time living in ... There may be lessons to be learned. We need to rejoice as we live in ... God is worthy of our gratitude and praise. And let us expectantly wait for ! whatever and whenever that may be.