Night Vision

July gives twilight like no other month.  The daylight lingers long into the evening and gradually blends its colors into tranquil blue.  Against that western canvas comes two brilliant lights that immediately catch your attention.  At first, I thought my eyes were fooling me with what I saw, since there is so much satellite "junk" in our skies.  But the lights kept coming out in the same place, side by side, at the same time each night.  With the assistance of a Google search, I discovered those lights were actually the planets of Venus and Jupiter.  Wow, how amazing that a universe I can usually only just imagine was displaying itself right before my eyes!  I couldn't get enough of that spectacular night vision. 

I enjoy doing my yoga outside on our patio.  There is connection as you feel the warmth of ground, follow your shadow with each pose, and lie on your back with your gaze to the trees and the sky.  But what must it have been to stay for 38 years on your back?  Unable to move, even to get near the water, let alone fall into it at just the right time.  Perseverance? Hope? Desperation? Stupidity? What would really keep one down in that pitiful state?  I don't know, and Scripture is silent on the details.  But for whatever the reason, Jesus picks this unnamed man out of a crowd of invalids lying in wait at a pool that held the hope of fantasy moments of healing.  The simple question comes, "Do you wish to get well?"  The man responds indirectly with more of an excuse than response, "I don't have anyone who can get me in the pool when it's turbulent, there is always someone stepping right in front of me."   Jesus replies, "Arise, take up your mat and walk."  The man immediately was healed and did what he was asked. 

 He hasn't even realized who that Miracle Man was, and almost as fast finds himself in the midst of controversy with his Jewish religious leaders.   Evidently, he is now breaking the Sabbath because he is "working" by carrying his mat.  No mention of the fact that this man hasn't "worked" or walked for 38 years!  I guess that was overlooked.  Anyway, he is found by Jesus in the temple later on, and now is told, "You have been made well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse will happen to you."  Nothing is noted about the man's response, other than he follows his pattern of blaming by telling the Jews, "it was Jesus who healed me."  Jesus doesn't mince words, and from the beginning of his interaction with that man, he knew already the reason why he had been laying there in that condition for so long.

I am left to wonder, does Jesus heal even if the heart isn't changed or transformed?  Did the man ever believe in the One who healed him?  What had that man done in his past that made him an invalid?  Did he follow the advice of Jesus to avoid his sinful ways?  Or did something worse happen to him later on?  Did he gradually come to believe that Jesus was more than just a magical healer?  Jesus knew him from the inside out, his worst self and perhaps his best, but that part of the story remains unknown.

Belief or unbelief, that is always the choice left to the individual.  Looking up into my night sky of lights, I can either believe there is so much more "out there" than my very being, or I can ignore those "lights," close the door, and come inside.  One cannot find God with unbelief, there has to be but a speck of faith.  You can even have a face to face encounter with Him and miss out on who He really is.  Even the brothers of Jesus, who actually grew up with God Himself lacked belief and didn't recognize him as who he was, at least not until after the resurrection. One can never find God with a heart of unbelief.  It will remain an empty search. . .

Brother Lawrence says it best, "God alone is capable of making Himself known as He really is; we search in reasoning and in the sciences, as a poor copy, for what we neglect to see in an excellent original.  God Himself paints Himself in the depths of our souls."  Yes, Lord give me more night vision to believe . . .