In Process of Time

In Mark 8 there is an interesting story about a blind man of Bethsaida whom Jesus heals.  The text tells us that “they brought a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.”  Jesus then took the man by the hand and “led him out of the town” and spit on the man’s eyes and started to heal him.  Jesus then asked the man “if he saw ought.”  The man responded “I see men as trees, walking.”  Jesus then laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and “made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly” (Mark 8:22-25).  There are a couple details in this story that seem fairly unique among the miracles of Jesus.  First, when the man was brought to Him, the Savior didn’t heal him on the spot but took him by the hand and walked with him all the way out of the town.  Second, when Jesus finally did start to perform the miracle, He didn’t do it all at once.  The man was partway healed at first so that he could see something, but when he looked at other men they were blurry like “trees”.  Only after Christ put His hands on the man for the second time was the sight fully restored.  Perhaps one of the lessons that we can learn from this small story is that healing from the Savior can take time, and we shouldn’t be alarmed if solutions to our problems don’t come all at once.  Surely Jesus could have healed the man in the city on the spot where he was brought to Jesus, but for some reason He decided to walk with him all the way out of town, and then heal him only partway at first.  This reminds me the account of Enoch and Zion, a people who also “walked with God” (Moses 7:69).  We read that “Zion, in process of time, was taken up into heaven” (Moses 7:21).  I think that phrase “in process of time” is an important gospel principle to understand; very often we don’t get change or healing or answers immediately, but as we choose to “walk” with the Savior, He will gradually help us find solutions to our challenges just as He healed the blind man in Bethsaida.