The Hard Hope of Healing

“It will take patience and work, and it’ll hurt at times; but we’re going to get you taken care of.”

I absorbed the doctor’s words during what was my seventh different medical appointment in two weeks. The Lord is doing a lot of healing in my life, and it’s mostly through the work of others.

Today’s Gospel tells us that people “brought to (Jesus) a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him” (see Mark 8:22). Why didn’t the man himself ask Jesus? Was he physically incapable? Or was it something deeper? Had he given up hope for healing? Was his suffering so overwhelming that he couldn’t find the motive to seek help?

I’ve been there.

I proclaim faith in the promises of restoration Jesus makes in Scripture, but I’ve lacked the confidence to trust Him with my most vulnerable needs. I’ve been a hearer who forgets (see James 1:22-24).

During those moments, my friends imitated the townspeople and brought me before Jesus.

Jesus meets the blind man with compassion, taking him by the hand and leading him away from the noise, the pressure, the despair. Although the Lord knows He is about to heal the man, He does not dismiss the pain he has experienced up to this point. He deals tenderly with him.

Jesus then wipes His spit on the man’s eyes. Kind of gross. But God often heals through the uncomfortable. The man isn’t instantly healed. Jesus laid hands on him a second time before he saw clearly. Our own healing often takes time.

The words of the doctor refreshed my soul that day. The Father enlightened the eyes of my heart so that I would know hope (see the Alleluia).

Maybe your own healing is slow. Maybe it’s painful, gross, or confusing. Maybe you’re relying on others to ask for healing on your behalf.

If you’re suffering today, let Jesus take you by the hand and lead you away for a while. It might take patience and work, but He will get you taken care of.

Slow down today and begin this novena to the Sacred Heart. Ask and allow for His healing.

Olivia Spears lives in Kentucky where the sweet tea and bourbon flow like milk and honey. She is the Blog Manager for Blessed is She and works from home as an editor and social media manager. She likes to binge novels and Netflix while raising her children and laughing with her husband. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up. You can find out more about her here.