And 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 upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. — Mark 8:23-24

When I was younger, I had a tendency to look for the easy way out of a lot of situations. I think we all have moments like this in our lives. For example, when running laps in the gym, my coach would always fuss because I would try to cut the corners of the gym to shorten the run.

Maybe you can even relate to a time when you were given something to do for someone. You probably completed the task, but it wasn’t quite to the best of your ability. In life, we often find ourselves settling for good enough.

These verses in Mark have always been interesting to me where Jesus heals the blind man. Especially in verse 24 where we find that Jesus gave him partial sight, but not clear sight. The blind man could have easily settled for just partial vision. I think there’s an important lesson here for us in faith.

It can be easy to face circumstances in life, pray for God to intervene, and simply be happy with a little response. Could it be that God is only answering our prayers to the level of our faith? For example, if we are praying for something, do we pray fully expecting for God to do exactly what we ask, or simply help a little?

We know that our God can do amazing things, but that requires faith. If we only partially believe in His ability, then we may never fully experience God’s strength. Maybe you find yourself wavering over how much you believe God can do. Perhaps today is a time to check the level of your faith.

Jared Dyson