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“Jesus! Have mercy on me!” That is my favorite prayer in the entire Bible. It isn’t the prayer of a rabbi or priest, or of anyone with any shred of status or self-sufficiency.
Bartimeus sat by a road leading out of Jericho. He was a raggedy beggar who wanted healing from blindness. He offered nothing to Jesus but desperation.
Many others nearby told him to hush up, but he yelled out all the louder, “Jesus! Have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped in His tracks and asked what Bartimeus wanted.
The poor desperate man asked to be able to see. Jesus healed him and the beggar began following Jesus that same day.
The name Bartimeus means “son of Timeus,” so this poor guy didn’t even have a name of his own. Dear Bay County readers, and anyone who feels desperate or discouraged, may I, in humility and compassion, make a suggestion?
Remember Bartimeus. When we are so desperate we have nothing to offer but a desperate cry to Jesus, we are in an enviable position. (“Blessed are those at the end of their rope, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”)
Jane, a new friend of mine, found herself in this position before the storm. When clean and sober for a fragile ninety days, Jane learned her best friend died of an overdose, and Jane felt like following his example. Desperate with grief and pain, she said she could think of only two choices: “either kill myself, or return to using drugs, which would be a slower means to the same end.”
By the grace of God, Jane remembered something a Christian woman had said to her on her twenty-fifth day of sobriety. “When your faith fails and you cannot pray, just cry out the name of Jesus over and over.”
Jane did it. She felt she didn’t even have a seed or crumb of faith, but she cried out again and again, as Bartimeus did, “Jesus! Jesus! Please!”
Peace and comfort flowed into her as her sobs poured out. Her heart almost burst with God’s loving comfort overflowing in peace and hope for the future.
Like Bartimeus, Jane’s darkness became light. I want to do this daily —cry out to Jesus in recognition of my neediness for all that He is. How can He fill me when I am so full of my own self-sufficiency, anger, or pride? These impossible storms in my life can be gifts in disguise because they end the blindness making me forget Whose love and Word we all need more than breath itself.
The Treasure
2/23/2021 9:25:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
(Don’t) Follow Your Heart?
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What’s that smell?
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This Moment
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Do your curls, girls!
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Forgotten Holiday Promise
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The Flea and the Cosmos
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Who’s Driving Me?
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Safe and Sound
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Patience
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Holiday Loneliness?
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Haunted? What a Shame.
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What Are We Celebrating?
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Where’s The Remote?
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Post-Hurricane Prayer
1/17/2019 8:45:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Does God Celebrate?
12/12/2018 1:35:00 PM by: Cathy Everitt
What For?
10/5/2018 9:54:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Birthright?
9/1/2018 6:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Exclamation Points
8/20/2018 2:20:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Shaking?
7/26/2018 4:45:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Radiance, Not Wrinkles
11/21/2017 1:00:00 PM by: Cathy Everitt
Walkin' and Talkin'
9/22/2017 7:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Touches
9/8/2017 10:15:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
The Worry List
7/17/2017 5:28:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Unanswered prayer?
5/21/2017 7:30:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Who's Your First Love?
4/9/2017 6:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Worse Than Sickness
12/6/2016 7:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
The Highest Price
11/28/2016 2:16:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
No Perfect Christmas
11/21/2016 2:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Sacrificing Thanks
11/14/2016 2:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
The Director
11/7/2016 3:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Watching Dead People
10/31/2016 2:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Against The Goad
10/24/2016 5:45:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Eating His Words
10/17/2016 2:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Glory
10/9/2016 3:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
What Does The Future Hold?
10/4/2016 3:00:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
More Sweetness
9/27/2016 8:59:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Delicious Cycle Revisited
9/20/2016 7:09:58 AM by: Cathy Everitt
A Delicious Cycle
9/13/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Winning and Losing
9/6/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
When I lose, I win
8/30/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Sunrise
8/23/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Impressions of Amsterdam
8/16/2016 7:07:48 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Sing 'Til I'm Satisfied
8/8/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
Ever-Increasing
7/26/2016 12:12:19 PM by: Cathy Everitt
Corrie
7/11/2016 1:28:43 PM by: Cathy Everitt
Favorites?
6/28/2016 10:27:00 AM by: Cathy Everitt
I love reminders from these guys...
6/14/2016 12:00:01 AM by: Cathy Everitt
How Can I Help?
6/7/2016 1:43:00 PM by: Cathy Everitt
A Perfect Flower
5/31/2016 by: Cathy Everitt
