The Bible says that Bartimaeus was doing the regular daily “exercise” – sitting at the city gates and relying on the pilgrims’ mercy for his dinner. There must have been a decent amount of dust on his clothes… over his body… And the heat certainly couldn’t have made his situation any better. But what else could he do? He’s an outcast after all – a cast out one.

But Bartimaeus isn’t just any outcast. Not just any blind guy. He isn’t just any beggar either. Bartimaeus is a believer, but not just any – a true one he is. The Bible says he heard Jesus approaching and began to shout – perhaps a usual picture given the popularity of the Lord. He was an emerging star for many of his time. The picture becomes unusual when a minute goes by and blind Bartimaeus is still shouting. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Some from the crowd tried to shut him, but apparently whatever he had lost with his sight had now turned into a voice amplifier.

“Jesus stopped and said, Call him.” I have to pause here and wonder if he really didn’t hear him the first time. Never mind, perhaps the crowd around him was far too big. So, they called Batrimaeus – “Cheer up!” they told him, it’s your day today. And oh, boy, did he run! In fact, he was so determined that his sole possession didn’t concern him. His roof and blanket, his mat and jacket – his cloak… thrown away for the by-standers to have, should they wish. For he knew there was something of much greater value waiting for him.

Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. - Hebrews 11:1, NIV

“What do you want me to do for you?”, Jesus asked him. Man! What kind of a question is that – from the One who ought to know everything? That didn’t seem to bother Bartimaeus though, not even a bit. “Rabbi, I want to see.” Period.

Have you realized that nowhere in the stories of Jesus’ miracles do we read “Lord, you know, perhaps, if it’s possible and won’t be too much to ask – could you heal me… But, really, just the basics – I’ll take care of the rest with some herbs.” The people in need which Jesus came across seemed to know what they want. Recall the woman with the bleeding – she was telling herself, only if I touch his cloak I’ll be healed. And, and that Roman centurion – he said, listen, Jesus – I, like you, am also a man of authority. I say “do this” and it gets done. Don’t even bother coming over, just say it and my servant will be well again.

Have you ever wondered what you would answer to Jesus if he was to ask you that very same “What do you want me to do for you?” I’d understand if you say “no” – I hadn’t thought of it myself either. After all, how often do we get asked such a question these days. But now that you know the question – what would your answer be? Would your answer reflect where your hope really lays… or would it reflect where your hope should really lay? Or would it reflect something completely different?

See, Bartimaeus knew what he hoped for. He also knew that Jesus could give it to him, although he had probably only heard about him… rumors and stuff. Remember, he was blind – couldn’t have seen it done before, that’s for sure. Yet all this, combined with an immeasurable certainty and conviction gave him the power to shout all the more when people told him to shut up. Getting to Jesus just became a whole lot easier – no possession held any importance at all… If he had anything else which could potentially make him run slower, he would have abandoned that as well, giving it no second thought. That’s faith – a blind man’s certainty that he will see again.

The more I read his story, the more I wish I would be as blind as Bartimaeus, so that I may have the hope that one day I will see; the power to not stop shouting even when everyone tries to shut me up; and the certainty that knows no obstructions.

One of the biggest problems before the Christian faith today is that all Christians claim they believe in God, but not all of them live according to their own claims. In other words, many of us daily call ourselves Christians, but far too many of us don’t live like Christians.

Let’s look at the relationship between a child and his or her parents as an analogue of ours with God. When a child truly trusts his or her parents, he or she waits patiently and faith till their promises come true. When mummy and daddy promise their son a new bicycle he doesn’t immediately run out, seeking for ways to buy it himself earlier than it’s promised to him. Where there is trust in a relationship between two sides, there is also patience and faith.

Between many believers and God, however, the trust is little… so, naturally, many Christians quickly run out of patience and lose faith. God, on the other hand, doesn’t cease caring for us, but how is it possible to feel Him caring if all the time we’re trying to solve our problems on our own and pay more attention to them than we do to God?

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, NIV).

Apostle Peter encourages us to humble ourselves before God. In other words – to confess that without Him there is nowhere we can get to; without Him there’s no feature for us; without Him our lives will be an endless fight against yet bigger problems. It’s about time for us to realized that we are the weak and God is the strong one. Doing this doesn’t mean that all of a sudden our lives will be flawless and problems will be nowhere to be seen. If we are humble before God, however, the problems will not dominate our lives but daily we will be above them, with our focus turned to what is of true matter – God.

When we start trusting God as much as we claim that we believe in Him, then we will begin to feel his care in a different, for some of us even unknown way. If we really have trust and faith in God, then as a problem comes before us we will first turn to God with a prayer for help. We will wait on His answer patiently and full of faith. And because God Himself has promised us – the answer will come, undoubtedly.

If, on the other hand, we chose to first go and try fix everything ourselves, with our own strength… or even worse – with money, then we better get ready for catastrophic consequences. Not only materially, but also spiritually. Although God will not cease caring for us and loving us, should we continue living our lives in such a way, we will one day wake up with more faith in ourselves than in God. And this is the day God will become unnecessary. We can easily lose our faith, the people around us, but worse of all – our future.

Our life with God requires daily care and a continual communication with Him. Two or three quickly put together prayers just won’t cut it. We ought to first establish our trust in Him. When this trust is real, then it won’t be hard for you to turn to God even for the smallest of things in life. It will be a joy to tell Him even of the biggest issues and troubles in your life. So, cast your cares on Him because He cares for you. Then you will have even more time to spend growing in your faith and relationship with God.

Perhaps it’s also the memories I have from my childhood, when in the early 90s people were empowered by hope of free life. Right, things didn’t work out quite the same all throughout the ex-communist bloc, but even that didn’t stop the majority of hoping for a change up till about year 2000/02 (in Bulgaria at least). It was around that time that hope found itself in stagnation in Bulgaria. Enough governments had changed for people to realize that they ain’t finding anything good there. So, since then I have the feeling that politics in Bulgaria exists on air and air alone. But not just politics… people as well.

Now they say that the crisis has even reached down there. I cannot but remember the Pope’s words from about a month or so ago, when he stated that any economic crisis would be an example of how unimportant money is (click here for a video). It’s striking to see that ever since the Cold War left the newscasts and daily talks the Northern and Western part of the world has turned life into a pursuit of vanity. First it was big cars, big houses, more clothes, more choices… Then there came mobile phones, computers, MP3 players… plasma TVs, DVD recorders… And today, the same people who sold these to us five years ago are releasing commercials on how destructive they are to the environment and that we ought to buy the new, more efficient models.

What ought to gain even more of everyone’s concern, however, is that people are losing hope. Well, people have lost hope. Thus they don’t even want to fight ahead. Where is the attitude of The Wind of Change? Where is the looking forward to tomorrow? Moreover, where are the people who best know hope in the midst of all of this? What are you and I doing to replace discouragement with empowerment?

I find myself in a disappointing position… Just sitting and watching life pass by, not voicing out much of the hope I have. Sad.