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By R.A. Mathews

One sunny morning, I spotted him as he stood on his regular street corner — the man who lives under the bridge. By that time, I had known him for several years.

He’s gentle. But don’t get me wrong—he’s also earnest with his panhandling sign. He’s there for a reason.

Some days, that makes me laugh.

This was one of those days.

There was no traffic, so I was able to pull beside him and stop.

“Do you like peanut butter?” I asked.

“Yes.” He grinned, looking inside my vehicle.

I reached for the sandwich I had made for myself. It was a sacrifice—I was traveling and needed it. Even so, I didn’t want him to go hungry and didn’t have time to find him something.

I handed it through the window, and he immediately shook his head.

“No,” he said.

“It’s good. Peanut butter and homemade jam on Ezekiel bread.”

“No,” he said again firmly, stepping back from my car.

“But you said you liked peanut butter.”

“I don’t like that kind.”

Okay, I laughed. What I haven’t told you is that the sandwich didn’t look exactly right — I had sat on half of it.

But I kept trying.

“Honestly, it’s good,” I said. “It just looks a little… ”

He eyed the squashed side.

I turned the good side to him.

“No,” he said, walking away.

So, I gave up and left. But I thought of him later while eating that great sandwich. The disfigured side didn’t make it any less delicious.

It made me think of Jesus and the nameless blind man. When Jesus encountered that blind man, the Lord spit on the ground and placed mud on his eyes.

What did Jesus say?

He said, “I am the Light of the world.”

Here’s the passage:

“As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been blind from birth . . . [and said] ‘I am the Light of the world.’ When He had said this, He spit on the ground, and made mud from the saliva, and applied the mud to his eyes… ” (John 9:1-7, NASB).

How did the blind man respond?

Now remember, he has mud on his eyes made from Jesus’ spit. The man wasn’t deaf — he knew where it came from.

Did the blind man walk away, disgusted?

Or did he ask Jesus to come with him, hoping the mud would really work?  Here’s the rest of the passage: “. . . and [Jesus] said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So, he left and washed, and came back seeing” (John 9:7, NASB)

The blind man hadn’t asked Jesus anything. He simply believed.

Jesus’ healings didn’t always go like that. Blind Bartimaeus received a much better deal. Here’s the passage:

“… as [Jesus] was leaving Jericho… a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus . . . began to cry out… . And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he regained his sight… ” (Mark 10:46-52, NASB)

In other words, Bartimaeus didn’t have to deal with spit or mud pies. He didn’t have to be led to a pool to wash to find out his fate. No, Bartimaeus was healed at once!

But everyone who saw Jesus and needed healing had faith, right?

Hardly.

Recall when Jesus was teaching in His hometown? The people of Nazareth thought Jesus was acting bigger than his britches, and He could do few miracles there (Mark 6:5-6, NASB).

The blind man took no offense at Jesus’ spit or the mud on his eyes. Instead, he took his dirty face, went, and washed without asking anything.

He had what the people of Nazareth did not. He had blind faith!

God has handed me many ugly sandwiches and wiped my eyes with mud pies. He’s led me down paths I didn’t want to walk, guided me on journeys that couldn’t possibly be right. But He was always right. I landed here — doing the best work in the world — writing for Him.

Prayer is answered differently for different people. Yours might come immediately as it did for Bartimaeus or in a muddy mess as it did for the first blind man.

You may get answers that you don’t want.

The old panhandler didn’t want my sandwich, but he missed out. God isn’t always going to give you what “looks right.”

This isn’t just for presents on Christmas Day. God is looking for ways to bless you all year long. The best of presents may present themselves as mud pies and ugly sandwiches.

This is the closing chapter from my newest book, “Reaching to God –The Christmas Edition,” available now on Amazon.com. It covers all the events and people of the Christmas story from Theophilus, Zechariah, and Elizabeth; to Caesar Augustus, Herod, and Marc Antony; to the Magi, Simeon, and Anna.

Thank you for letting me share my faith with you this year. When the Lord speaks to you, whatever you’re guided to do, follow Him. Follow Him blindly.

Jesus is the Light for your world.

This abridged chapter is from “Reaching to God: The Christmas Edition,” available on Amazon. Reprinted with permission.

The Rev. Mathews (BA, MDiv, JD) is a newspaper faith columnist and the author of the Reaching to God series and the mystery Emerald Coast: The Vendetta.  Contact her at Hello@RAMathews.com. Copyright © 2020, 2024 R.A. Mathews. All rights reserved