Look Again! Try Again!

Scripture

Matthew 8:22-25 (NIV) 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.

1 Kings 18: 41-44 (NLT) 41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”

42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.

43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”

The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”

Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”

Devotion

Last week while on a Facebook live selling jewelry, God created a God-moment. This God-moment turned into a revelation that encouraged so many! What I thought was a one-time thing ended up being the running theme of the evening. It would then go on to spilling over to the following week. It all started when I showed a piece, stating how many I had available. It was a popular piece and more people said “snatch” to indicate they wanted to purchase it. However, the piece was sold out…so I thought. Then, I looked in the bag that I looked in before… and all of a sudden there was one more! As the live continued, it happened about three more times! Then, I was led to encourage the ladies to look again and try again! What a God moment that was!

Oftentimes in our lives, we look at things the first time and it does not look favorable. We tried and what we expected did not happen. We find ourselves disappointed and unwilling to try again. Frustration and discouragement surrounds us, but we cannot stay there. Sometimes looking and trying again can seem painful, because we are reminded of the failure. The good news is, we have great biblical examples that we can look again and be successful.

In Matthew 8, Jesus heals the blind man. The first time he looked he saw men as trees. After being blind for so long, He could have gotten discouraged, but He did not. Jesus lays His hand on His eyes one more time and when he looks again, he saw clearly! It took faith for him to believe that when he looked again, he would see clearly. Having to look again provoked his faith!

In order to look and try again, it's going to take courage and faith! What are some things you need to look at again? Have you given up or decided that your trying days were over? What do you need to give another look? Sometimes you may have to look and try again several times, but it will be worth it. In 1 Kings, Elijah sends them to look and they come back to say they did not see anything. They looked seven times, before seeing anything! Seven times! I can only imagine what these men were thinking. But then the abundance of rain came!

Today, I challenge you to look again! I don't know what you need to look at and/ or try again, but know that you will need to step your faith game up. You will have to look again because you do not want to miss what God has for you. Your breakthrough is on the other side of another look. It may be scary to try again, but do it afraid. It’s worth the glance!

Prayer

Dear God,

It is never easy trying again because it seems as if I have failed. I know there is always a lesson and reason. I know with You by my side, I win! Lord strengthen my faith as I prepare to look and try again. Snatch fear out of me so that I can get to my goal. Let my testimony of looking again provoke someone’s faith to rise. God, I trust you and I know that it will work out for my good.

Amen