Mark 8:22-26

Be Still: Lord, quiet the noise within me that I may hear your voice. Amen

Read: Mark 8:22-26

He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.' (v24) 

Encounter: I admit I can be absent-minded. Sometimes the world inside my head is more interesting than the real one. I’m prone to leaving lights on, zoning out mid-conversation, and misplacing things. Most stuff turns up, but I lost my driving licence in October 2024, and that hasn’t.

For a while I didn’t have any ID, which was inconvenient for post church pub trips. Then I found an old photo of the licence and it became my ID for a while. Some places accepted it; many didn’t. It kind of worked, but it left me a little limited in what I could do.

When you’ve had nothing, it’s easy to settle for less than the fullness of something.

Today we meet a man who is completely blind. Jesus dabs spit on his eyes- (disgusting, but that’s for another time) - and the man’s sight is restored… kind of. 

When Jesus asks, 'Do you see anything?' he replies, 'I see people; they look like trees.' Jesus touches him again and his sight is completely restored.

In one sense, we’re all this blind man. Some of us have physical needs, but all of us have been at some point spiritually blind. This passage shows that sometimes Jesus works instantaneously, and sometimes he works gradually.

Just because you’ve encountered Jesus, doesn’t mean you’re living the fullness of life in him. Maybe you’re still seeing people like trees – better than blindness, but not quite clear. And when you’ve known complete darkness, it’s easy to settle for partial sight.

We often live with less than God’s best, simply because we don’t want to admit we’re not fully there yet. But this passage shows something beautiful: Jesus is more than willing to touch us again – to keep working, on and on, until we are fully restored.

Asking for more isn’t ingratitude for what God has done – it’s faith for what he’s still to do.

Apply: Invite the Holy Spirit to show you where you are settling for less than God’s best. Let God continue the good work he’s already begun in you.

Devote: Jesus, please restore me completely.