He Spits on my Eyes, and I See Trees?!

Have you ever heard that when you lose one of your senses, your other ones are heightened? I can’t personally confirm or deny if this is physically true. However, as I was reading Mark 8: 22-25 (KJV), it became apparent to me. Let’s read it together. “²² Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him and begged Him to touch him. ²³ So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” Sit with this scripture for a moment and ask the Lord for spiritual enlightenment. What came to mind? What did it make you think about? This was astounding to me, and as the Lord moves me, I would like to share with you what He has imparted to me.

So, we know that the Lord likens us to trees, and if you didn’t know now you know! There are plenty of examples of this. One of my faves is Psalm 1:1-3 (KJV). Follow the link to read the excerpt. We are focusing on verse 3, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” In short, the Lord says that if we delight in his law and don’t follow ungodly counsel, then we will be as the trees that bear good fruit in time and prosper. Another example is Matthew 7: 13-20. Here, we’ll focus on verses 18 and 20. “¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” Okay, so let’s break it down this way. We are the trees and the fruit we bear are our characteristics, thought patterns, word choices and actions we put out into the world. The fruit on the tree identifies the type of tree you see. If you see apples, it is an apple tree. If you see oranges, it is an orange tree and so forth. You cannot see oranges growing from an apple tree and vice versa. Going back to the references, therefore, you cannot see a good tree produce evil fruit or an evil tree produce good fruit. Does that mean that our fruit will be perfect every time? No, because we are not perfect. We are all still learning. Have you ever seen a good-looking fruit tree overall, but noticed there are some over ripened fruit on it? Or maybe you noticed that not all buds blossomed, but it’s still a good fruit tree? I say this to say that the Lord is examining the full tree and not just a couple of fruits that were not ideal.

Okay, stay with me! Most times, I like to take the story through the scenic route because you glean so much goodness from the details. Lol, hey, I love a good story time! Now that we know for sure God makes an analogy between us and trees, let’s get back to our scripture in Mark. I’d like to share with you one of my testimonies alongside this account. The Lord came into a city, and they brought him a blind man who begged Jesus to heal him. How many of us have done that? 🙋🏾‍♀️ I know I have many times! Also, how many of us didn’t know what that process would look like? 🙋🏾‍♀️ Sometimes, the Lord will answer our prayers straight, and sometimes, we go through a process before we gain clarity. For this blind man, Jesus didn’t just give him his sight back as He had done with others through the scriptures. First, He took him out of the town. If you have read any of my other blogs, you will know that I was born and raised in Chicago. I went to Los Angeles for vacation in 2012, and that’s when I was drawn to live there. I didn’t know why; it was just this strong urge I could not shake. People would ask, why L.A.? I would just say, the Lord put it on me. There was no other explanation. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I finally moved in 2016, and I didn’t know at the time that the Lord moved me away to purge, teach, exercise, and build me back up for His purpose. He had to show me, me. Keep reading and you’ll learn what the Lord revealed to me. This is that process I was just referring to. It’s an unknown road where we don’t fully know what lies ahead. Man, be careful what you ask for because whew, my life was shooketh, okay! I had not a clue what He was doing, but it also was not time for me to know. Take His hand and follow Him, sis. You cannot go wrong!

At the next stage of the man’s healing, Jesus spit on his eyes and asked him if he saw anything. The man looked up and saw men walking like trees. I can’t imagine what was in this man’s mind when he saw trees walking around, but he understood them to be people. My understanding of this is that he was seeing spiritually. It makes me think of John 3:12 (KJV) where Jesus told Nicodemus if you don’t believe the earthly things, how can you believe the heavenly (spiritual) things. We should be focusing on the spiritual meanings behind what we see, experience and think. I like to journal in different ways. Sometimes, I write it down, make a note, type it out, or voice record. I love timelines because I love to go back to a time to know where I was mentally and spiritually. So, I would like to share an excerpt from one of my journal entries. I had been in Cali for a little over 4.5 years. So much had transpired in my walk with God by then. 12 days prior to this entry, I had made a major shift in my walk by leaving an unfruitful relationship of almost 8 years.

                September 5, 2019: Time of Healing

 Starting today is the time for healing! Things have been revealed to me that opened my eyes to my walk. Was I walking faithfully? Was I acting worldly or godly? Was I helping or hindering others? Sometimes, you think things happen to tear you down, but it actually is rebuilding and fixing the breaches of your holy temple (your body). Just as God commanded Israel to come forth and rebuild the breaches of His temple, we have to constantly do the same!

            You’ve been hurting for so long; you don’t know how to heal. You’re just an open wound full of debris.

This is one of those full circle moments.  It’s one of many moments where I was blind to who I was in God, and He started the process of opening my eyes.  I was examining myself at this moment, seeing myself as a tree. Was I bearing good fruit or evil fruit? When the Lord is dismantling things in our lives (removing people, places, and things), it is challenging because it’s what we know. We become comfortable with the lifestyle. However, know that the Lord removes from us what is not good for us. He is an excellent keeper of His vineyard. I had to get to work. What was hindering me from producing good fruit?

“Another mirror was complaining and murmuring! Oooh, have I stricken a nerve? Because sis, I could complain about anything and everything!”

I asked God to turn my mirrors around so I could see myself as He saw me at the time, and it was uuuuuuugly! First thing He revealed was that I was prideful! Ouch! I didn’t realize it. I used to be one of those people who focused on everyone else’s walk and relationship with God, but I didn’t focus on mine. I thought I was good, and I wanted to help others! I had advice for everyone else but myself. How big headed of me! Praise God for humbling me as His child. I felt He was saying, little girl you need to clean up your house too, not just tell people how they should clean up theirs. I was like😳😳😳. Wow! He brought that to me as I was having a conversation. We were referencing something else, but the message from God hit me like a ton of bricks. Ya’ll, pride is the first thing God hates according to Proverbs 6: 17 (KJV). That is not a good start! Lol, but it makes sense that this would be the first mirror. You have to be prideful before you move contrary. Pride comes before a fall, right? Another mirror was complaining and murmuring! Oooh, have I stricken a nerve? Because sis, I could complain about anything and everything! The children of Israel got in trouble because of murmuring in the wilderness. Things could always be worse. Seek to understand what is happening, not complain about it. I started to consider the positive side to situations, and that has helped me tremendously! I have many other mirrors that He revealed, but you would be reading until next month, so I’ll share one more. You ready? Control! 🤯🤯🤯. Aw man, I’m controlling too??? Yup! I don’t have control over anything, okay. It was harder than I thought to let go of what I wanted, what I wanted to do, even how I wanted to do it. We get a little knowledge, and we think we know how it goes. Again, I could feel him saying, child sit down, you don’t know if there even is a tomorrow for you! It sounds harsh, but do we really know? And we know that some kids need a stern word in order to hear because we can be hardheaded. I’m still working on control just so you know that this is a process, it’s not overnight! Every now and again, I have to be reminded who is in charge of my life. I praise Him for it because He knows what He created me for. He’s teaching me day by day, so I have to stay humble and listen.

Those 3 mirrors were fruits that I was producing. What can the Lord do with that, but cut it down? I had to get rid of it! How? Through prayer, studying the Word, conversation with people of God, honesty, faith, and patience. Imagine if I didn’t position myself to listen and obey Him in the process. I would still be producing that fruit. Think about yourself for a moment. Has the Lord been tapping you on your shoulder to dig deeper with Him? Have you been obedient to it? Does the work that lie ahead seem too heavy for you? Is that why you’re not moving? I’ll tell you one thing: I am grateful for the purging, the persecution, the molding, the isolation, and the redirection. Why? Because not only has it brought me closer to God, but it has brought me closer to my purpose and God’s people. Now, in full transparency, did I get to moving as soon as He urged me to, no! Overtime though, I’ve learned to move a little faster with each urge. Remember, it’s a process!

That brings me to Jesus covering the man’s eyes again and boom, he has clarity! Isn’t that what we all want??? Clarity of God, clarity of mind, clarity of purpose, clarity of people, clarity of self? The Lord tells us that He has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a SOUND MIND. Clarity. It’s not a good feeling to not know where you are going. I know you’re probably thinking, “But didn’t you just say you don’t know what the process looks like, so how do you know where you’re going?” Well, here’s the thing, you may not understand every detail of the process as it’s happening, but we all know the destination is with Christ! So, you do know where you’re going. How to get there? You have to let God lead you, just as the blind man let the Lord lead him out of the city. Trust His process no matter what it looks like. Can it be scary? Sure. I guarantee you though that the more you give it to Him, the less scary it is because you know He’ll never leave nor forsake you!  

Now, as far as clarity goes in my testimony, I didn’t start getting it until 7 years after I got baptized and 4.5 years after He moved me away from my hometown. I’ve said it throughout this post, and I’ll say it again: 🗣🗣🗣 It’s a process! It’s not overnight! This is part of my story, so it may not take as long for some. For some, it may take longer. Just walk. Take the first step is what I hope you can glean from this. It’s clear to me now that if I want to make it to my destination with Christ, I have to make some changes consistently. I have to be focused on my path regardless of how it may look to others. Sure, I’ll stumble, trip and even fall, but I must get back up and keep going. I want this more than I ever have.  This brings Philippians 3: 13-15 when Paul says that he is pressing toward the mark of the high calling of Christ! I feel you brother! This life is temporary, and we are working for our eternal lives. I want to make sure I get in the right place, okay!

Let’s revisit the question asked in the beginning of this post. Have you ever heard that when you lose one of your senses, your other ones are heightened? Let’s put our spiritual caps on and process together. Closing our ears to all the noise around us telling us to go this or that way, can position us to hear the voice of God clearer. Making our words few, not speaking proudly and not operating in our own understanding, can help us perceive when God is speaking to us. When we are mindful of the scripture that states we walk by faith and not by sight, we will begin to see spiritually what God wants us to see. I gather that when we distance ourselves from the world and draw near to God, He will draw near to us as His Word says, and we would have much more clarity as we walk this walk.

I pray that this is edifying for you and encourages you to allow the Lord to lead you to your healing, in Jesus’ name! Ask Him what that looks like and start where you are. Get in the Word of God and ask Him how the scriptures relate to what you’re experiencing in life. His Word is living. Before you know it, you’ll look up and see that you have grown tremendously in Him. Be a tree that brings forth good fruit and let the Light of God shine through you!

This is the perfect song to go along with this post. It’s called “Waking Up” by Alia Lara. Take a listen. Leave a comment down below and share with your sisters to encourage them too!

I love you all!

– Michelle💖