What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41). This was the question from Jesus to the blind beggar at the roadside. Jesus was passing at the time and stopped. What would we say if Jesus asked us the same question? “What do you want me to do for you?” No doubt we would have a wide variety of needs and request to put to Jesus. “If you ask Me for anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14). “Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24). But it doesn’t seem to work that way.

Our lives can be littered with unanswered prayers, disappointments, heartache and pain. Doesn’t Jesus care? Of course, He cares. He cares about every aspect of our lives. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3).

God is God. He will work His purposes out. Who are we to tell God what He should or shouldn’t do? Who are we to question His judgement or His decisions? “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:7-8).

There’s much we don’t understand. We get frustrated about many things. But we need to step back and look at the bigger picture: God and ourselves. There is an immeasurable gap between the two. The vastness of God and His Kingdom, and the infinitesimal existence of human kind. A gap which no one can bridge. Then there’s Jesus. The bridge. The one who brings the two together. In Him are all aspects of God. “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30). ‘In Him he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure’ (Ephesians 1:9).

As we recognise God through Christ, we come closer to an understanding of His ways and His will. It is like a child holding tight to the father’s hand, as they walk through a storm together. The child is fearful and sees all kinds of dangers but, as he clings to his father, he feels safe, protected, and secure. He doesn’t understand, but with complete trust in the father he is led to safety.

What was so special about the blind beggar to whom Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for You?” He had been told Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He knew who Jesus was - the son of David, son of the promise. He declared before the crowds that this was the son of the King, the fulfilment of prophecy, the long-awaited Deliverer. “Have mercy on me.”

To know Him, who He really is, and recognise our need before Him makes all the difference. ‘Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you”’ (Luke 18:42).