Getting Better & Better

He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

Mark 8:24

I often wondered why Jesus didn’t heal this blind man, completely, the first time.  (Mark 8:22-26)  In his other miracles, Jesus healed the sufferer perfectly in his first try.  I think that this is a picture of the sanctification process.  That’s my word of wisdom for today – sanctification.

My pastor told me that sanctification is the process of God making us better and better throughout our lives.  We become more and more like Jesus.   It’s growing in the fruits of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22).

Sanctification is also getting ridding of hate, impatience, meanness, idolatry, gossip, greed, self-absorption, stealing, lust, cowardice, anger, and other ugly stuff.   I saw Joyce Meyers on television recently.  She said that we cannot change what we know nothing about.  Her point was that we should be happy when God shows us the ugly parts of our character, because we have the chance to change.  Facing up to the ugliness, though, is embarrassing and painful.

God never says anything to me in anger.  Other people have.  People have pointed out my problems during arguments.  Since the situation was so highly charged, I couldn’t receive it.  When God speaks to me, it’s a quiet thought when I’m in a quiet space – a revelation.  One evening, I was watching a re-run of a movie that I’d seen before.   All of a sudden, I saw myself in one of the characters!  Watching her interact with other characters gave me some insight into how I interact with other people; and the little ways I can offend people without even realizing it.  What a gift!

In the heat of anger, people can bring up every bad thing you’ve ever done and all of your issues.  God does not.  He’ll bring one flaw to my attention.  He’ll allow me to face up to it, digest it, and work on it.  After a while, He’ll bring up something else.  Slowly but surely, He heals my “vision” so that I can see myself more clearly.