“Master,” he said, “please, I want to see.” (Luke 18:41)

As I was studying Luke 18 recently I saw something new. I realized that this chapter is sandwiched between two stories of perseverance. First, the story of the woman who kept begging the judge to vindicate her of an injustice that was done to her. Second, the story of a blind man who kept crying out to Jesus to heal him.

As I looked closer at the theme of the chapter I realized that Jesus was teaching the people about faith (verse 8). “How interesting”, I thought, “Jesus is showing us through these stories that faith grows as we persevere in prayer and as we continue to ask God to help us see.”

I’ve had to persevere a lot this past year and a half as I’ve waited on God to fulfill a dream that He put on my heart over 20 years ago. It can get very frustrating if I only see where I’m at as “stuck” or if I get pulled into doubt. However, if I can go a little deeper through the lessons of Jesus, I can see that as I continue to persevere, God is growing my faith and this is a place where He can prepare me for what is ahead.

God, like the blind man, we want to see. Please open our spiritual eyes and help us see the eternal truths you want to teach us. We want to see Jesus so that we have the strength to persevere. Grow our faith so that we can fully live out all that You have created us to do.

Debbie Luther Howell

Pastor, Speaker, and Author sharing God's love through ministry