Give it a try!

Conquer your fear and you will see victory with God.

35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging;

36 and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant.

37 They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."

38 And he cried, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

40 And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him,

41 "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me receive my sight."

42 And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."

43 And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.-Luke18:35-43

The previous Gospel reading spoke of the fear of the third servant. Because of his fear of his demanding master, he hid the talent. Because of that, what he had was taken from him. Worse, he was thrown "outside in the darkness, where there is wailing and grinding of teeth."

In contrast, the blind man conquered all his fears just to be healed. Perhaps there was a tug-of-war between asking help from Jesus or not. But he conquered the possibility of rejection by crying out loud, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The blind knew that he had nothing to lose when he asked for help. He knew that it is much better to try, than not try at all and regret it for the rest of his life. Yes, one of his fears came true because instead of the people helping him and encouraging him to call on to Jesus, they shushed him, rebuked him, told him to be quiet. Talk about empathy! But all his efforts paid off because Jesus heard him and healed him right then and there.

The things that we ask from God are actually granted already. Sometimes we just have to be bold enough to give it a try, or be bold enough to ask. Sometimes Jesus is asking us to be brave for Him.

Image courtesy: El Greco (Healing of the Blind), Dreamstime