Siri, Block this Caller

All throughout the four gospels we see instances of Jesus doing divine acts of healing.  Some of His miraculous accounts are recorded for us several times, told from different vantage points in the different gospels. Yet there are other miracles recorded for us only once. Within the gospel of Mark we find one of these unique miracles recorded in detail. The account of Jesus healing the blind man outside the village of Bethsaida is not only rare because it is only written about once, but it is also the only progressive miracle Jesus performed in the New Testament.

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you. "Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark 10:46-52

As I read the words Jesus stopped, I asked myself- what in my prayer life makes Jesus stop? I focused on the verse where Jesus stopped and responded with call him. How easy for a blind man to hear God because he cannot see anything, right?

So often I find myself in prayer crying out to God and frustrated, I have heard nothing back. Did Jesus blocked my calls? I don’t hear Him respond- Maybe I got Holy Ghosted today. He is probably up there on His throne sending my calls to voicemail. I picture Him saying:

Ashleigh’s calling again today- I can’t deal with her.

She’s just too sad- Decline.

Here she is again praying for her future husband- she still with them clowns though- bye Felicia.

Why does she always want money for? Ugh, this girl just wanting financial blessings AGAIN and loves the guacamole too much. Send this gold digger to voicemail.

Oh no- why she mad again? Did I not just answer that last call when she pretended to be on Jerry Springer? No more get out of jail free Ashleigh, this is not monopoly. Ignored.

Seriously, you have two legs woman you do not need closer parking. Swipe Left.

In my commute to work, I drive through a dead zone. My phone will ring, but If I pick up I’ll soon be over Beeswax and my call will drop. Often times, people will call me back over and over until I can answer. But, I often think sometimes Jesus must have Verizon too. Maybe His air pods in and watching tiktoks that He can’t hear my voice calling? Maybe He didn’t look at His text messages?

Now you and I both know, I am exaggerating and the Lord loves to hear us call. But, what if there are things in our life that we fixate on that block Him from hearing our calls?

What Can You Hear?

We look at Bartimaeus and we realize the great thing about him is that all He has is the ability to hear. He hears Jesus is coming by, so he responds screaming to Him. In verse 48, it’s interesting because it adds that Bartimaeus heard them rebuking him. For him be quiet- to shut up. He hears the bantering crowd rebuking his call to Jesus.

But, in reality we all have that crowd. Those negative people in our lives that are true to the term, "Debbie Downer." Have you ever been around a joy sucker? The negative people that tell you every way it’s not going to work when you share a dream? I definitely sure have. You may wake up to him or her every morning. It could be your coworker that makes every day a Monday and so it could also be your family.

Hosting a Block Party

iPhones have this amazing feature, the one where you go select the contact and click block this caller. When you click that it says, you will not receive phone calls, FaceTime or text messages from anyone on the block list. Now when I think of this, I immediately think of one or oh maybe ten people that I should go add to the blocked list. These people are blocking from what God has to say.

Your Block Party Invite List Should Include:

Those people that call you up to party during your studying each night as you are working through school to get your degree.

The running buddies with no responsibilities when you need to be put the priorities of mother (or father) first. Your girls night may need to be evaluated. The people in your snapchat or DM’s you delete from your significant other. Or those on the friends list that could provoke temptation.

The best friends that are over opinionated as you’re trying to work on your marriage. Those people you talk to every single time with something negative to say about your spouse or partner.

You have to make your focus on what you are hearing- What we give attention to we slowly and all at once give authority to.

Not only do we need to focus on what we hear from others- but also on what we think. In many of my day-to-day encounters at work in health care I will be asked about their road to recovery, rehabilitation and healing. I am often asked, what are the outcomes of getting my strength back to walk? Will I ever be able to (activity) again? Truthfully we never know the answer to that question. I always respond with “your mind is the biggest muscle. If you want that- you will have it again.”

So often, the voice we listen to inside our head determines our outcome in any challenge of life. The two things we know about Bartimaeus is that he is blind and he is begging. But do you wonder what he was thinking? What was the voice in his head? I imagine that he thought, I am blind and I’m a beggar over and over again.

But, he blocked it. So many times we determine our success because our memory serves us a failure.

These block traps look a lot like:

“I’m a failure, I should not even try.”

“I’m an addict, that’s all I’ll ever be."

"My best friend betrayed me- so will this person."

"The love of my life was a narcissist and unfaithful- all men are the same."

“I am getting too old to have children, I’ll never be a mom”

"I’m stupid, I’ll never finish my degree ."

"This business will never thrive. Really? you?"

"You are a horrible mother."

"Stay in bed- nobody loves you."

Unknown Callers

I will be the first to raise my hand and admit that my voice is so bad I have named her Brenda (sorry if that is your name). I imagine Brenda to be very similar to Agatha Trunchbull from the movie Matilda. Truth be told, we all have an Agatha Trunchbull in our lives and once you name the enemy- you can tell it where to go. The greatest challenge in most of us is our thoughts. I believe this is why Bartimaeus shouted. It crippled his thoughts so he couldn’t hear the battlefield of his mind. Are you entertaining the Agatha Trunchbull's in your mind that look like fear, anxiety or depression?

This is fear- BLOCK.

This is rejection- BLOCK

This is depression- BLOCK

Program those unknown callers and tell them where to go.

What We See

Pushing my shopping buggy Sunday through the Piggly Wiggly I witnessed a mother with her very misbehaved son throwing a tantrum on isle four. As she let him continue his fit in the floor she firmly says, "I'm gonna take away your X-Box. I'm gonna whoop you." He never blinked at the threat.

You see, there are a lot of I'm gonna people that need to turn into I will people. Bartimaeus saw in Christ what we normally do not see. Not to parent shame this mothers technique; but, had she responded. "I am whooping your butt. I am taking your XBox." The tantrum would have likely stopped his fit of rebellion.

Cling to how we see God so that we can hear God. Bartimaeus came to Jericho, knowing that Jesus would heal him- because He had and He will. He saw God differently. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He shouted something different than what he heard. Why does he hear something and shout something totally different?

Bartimaeus saw something in Jesus that everyone else didn't see. He speaks to the Messianic Prophecy to the Jesus that would save the world. I find it so interesting that most people did not speak to Jesus the Son of David until He died on the cross. Before we go into our miracles, align yourself with who you see God to be. See Him as the God that can and will change everything.

Call Waiting

Think of the last time someone called you and you let it ring to voicemail. You just didn't want to talk to them and answer that call. “Hello Chad, it’s 2020, text me. Okay? Thanks.“

But, guess what? When God calls you He will call back. He will keep calling and calling to where you think of something and you then hear it on the television. You see it in your algorithms or a bumper sticker on the interstate. When God wants you -He keeps calling. Have you ever shopped for a car and then they show up everywhere you go? It's confirmation that you are in the market for that vehicle. God will call you and bring confirmation to His calling - so when He calls back, Just say speak, Lord. God does not play hide and seek in the tabernacle. He will show back up and keep calling until you answer.

You are INVITED to this Thirst Trap Thursday Block Party

I challenge you to go home and have a block party. Everyone cannot have access to you in your season. You may need to block them temporarily or forever so that you can access the calling and purpose from God.

For some of us we need to block what we think. Some of us need to block what we hear. Those of us in this category will require you to do some work- you cannot do this alone. You need people to encourage you the most.

For others, we need to block how we see God. Shift your perspective to the loving God that He is. The text says that Bartimaeus was in a crowd, there are many people calling on Him for a miracle and in that moment Jesus hears Bartimaeus and zones in on healing the blind man.

Another thing about the iPhone, when you go to the text messages you realize what you say to the person is blue and what they text you is grey. Take into account of your text thread with the Lord today- is it all gray?

Be Bartimaeus and do what I love about him so much- remove the blocks and know there is breakthrough in the blue. Get in your place- answer His call. You don't just have one. There may somethings blocking you from hearing God's call- but NOTHING can block Him from yours. Dare to believe that He will do what He said He would do. Shift your confidence from your own weakness to His power.

Trust in Him xo- ashleigh renee