A spark of suspicion ignited as I listened to our dinner guest and watched him fiddle with his beard. That familiar gesture was unmistakable. I’d seen my husband do that same thing countless times.
But then my heart raced as I tried to remember the last time I had seen him with a beard, the one he’d sported for five years. I turned to look at him and discovered his beardless face staring back at me with a mischievous grin. My breath caught—what happened?
After everyone left, I asked, “How long?”
“Eleven days.”
My husband’s beard was hidden in plain sight. So much for my keen powers of observation. I exhibited a phenomenon psychologists call inattentional blindness. Most of the time, we see what we expect and ignore what we don’t. I expected a bearded husband.
Jesus faced the same problem. Despite witnessing the wonders He performed, the unbelieving Pharisees demanded a sign. His disciples also failed to recognize His miraculous activities as evidence of His messianic identity. They misunderstood His mission and tried to force Him into their image of what a Messiah should do.
Mark used Jesus’s healing of the blind man from Bethsaida as a metaphor. After Jesus placed his hands on the man, the man saw people, but they looked like trees walking. Only after the Savior’s second touch could the man see clearly (Mark 8:18).
Like the disciples, we often expect to follow Jesus into a victorious kingdom, not sacrificial martyrdom. We claim His promises yet dismiss the demands of self-denying discipleship. Although we long for His words of comfort, we refuse to invest the time required to hear His small, still voice. We expect Him to honor us with His presence and power while we dishonor Him with disobedience. We want happiness, not holiness, and convenience, not character.
Jesus didn’t come to make our lives easier but to invite us to partner with Him in bringing His kingdom into a changing world. He challenges you to strip off our blinders and follow the God of revelation rather than the God of your imagination.
Nancy Lucenay’s writing and speaking reflect her passion for helping Christians apply their faith to life’s puzzling questions. A pastor’s wife and Bible teacher for fifty-plus years, Nancy has spoken and taught in the US, Africa, Asia, and Europe. You can find and connect with Nancy on her website, Beyond the Front Door (https://nancylucenay.com).