Modern Day Miracle

Mark 8:22-25

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

We have read this many times, how Jesus restored this blind man's sight, but have we ever really compared it to this day in age.  True we don't have "hands-on healers", but does this diminish the idea of miracles or perhaps even an intervention by God? Surely not.  Let me put this in perspective.

For the majority of my life, I have had a drifting right eye.  Originally diagnosed as a "lazy eye", only later to realize that it wasn't, but simply a very weak eye.  Doctors have said that a lazy eye cannot be corrected with prescription, however, mine can.  But, even with prescription, it doesn't fix the drifting.  This was found out to be "Exotropia".  Exotropia (from Greek εξοτρὀπια, εξο "exo" meaning "to exit" or "move out of" and τρὀπειν "tropein" meaning "to turn") is a form of strabismus where the eyes are deviated outward.  This is a muscular issue and not directly related to my vision problem in that eye.  With our modern-day advances in science and technology, we can remedy those problems.  We have Lasik, which is a laser surgery that allows you to "trim down" part of the slope of the eye that causes the vision problems, therefore eliminating the need for prescription lenses and we also have Strabismus surgery which allow physicians make tiny incisions in the sclera of the eye (the white part) on either or both sides and adjust the muscle that holds your eye in proper alignment.  As of Friday, July 29, 2011, I'll have remedied one of those.  My drifting has finally reached its pinnacle and I will be having the Strabismus surgery to pull my eye back straight.  This has long been an "issue" to me and I'm sure most people who have dealt with it.  Most people I encounter never notice it or just overlook it and go on, but for those of us that have had the problem, our perspective is different.  I love to sing and be on stage and so for me personally, its largely a self-conscious thing.  I don't like the feeling I get when people look at me while I perform.  To me, I feel they are only seeing THE EYE, not even hearing the words I'm singing.  Since mine isn't directly connected to my vision, I don't suffer any other issues as a result.  I can only imagine how some must feel that deal with poor vision as a result of the drift.  I've been asked, "Are you going to have Lasik too?"  To be honest, I had thought about it prior to my consultation, but after speaking with my doctor and God, I have decided to NOT do the Lasik.  The doctor informed me that a lot of times after you fix the first problem and you go to address the second one, that they could very easily work against each other and my eye could start drifting out again.  So for right now, at least, I'm sticking with the Strasbismus.

You may feel like I've lead you on a wild goose chase, but I'm bringing it all back around now.  To me personally, it's a miracle that these types of surgeries are even possible.  I realize it's not God's direct hand on my eye like in the story above, but God is leading this surgeon to perform the steps necessary to fix this issue.  For God to choose a person to carry on His power of healing, albeit through modern medicine and technology, is a miracle.  We all have the ability to choose what career path we want, but I do think it takes someone of a special heart, mind, body, & soul to put the care and health of another person in their own hands.  Do you all remember Luke?  He was a physician!  Colossians 4:14 "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings." NIV

The next time you are around a doctor, of any kind, thank them.  People may make remarks about the amount of money they make versus the amount of time they are in the exam room with you...I myself have been guilty of that (and I'm sure there are some doctors that do it only for the money), but I want to make a plea to God for Him to remind me of the love and dedication this physician has to place MY care into his hands to carry out the "miracle" of helping, just as God allowed Luke to do.