Lessons from a Blind Beggar with Big Faith

Lately I've been reading through My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers, an excellent book full of meaningful insights and challenges from the author. One of the Biblical events brought to life in this book is the story of the blind beggar who called out after Jesus as He passed by (Luke 18:35-43). Despite the crowd’s rebuke that he should remain silent, the beggar was persistent and kept calling after Jesus, and, instead of giving up, he “shouted all the more” (Luke 18:39b). According to Chambers we must be like this beggar and “Persist in the disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself; do not deify common sense. When Jesus asks us what we want Him to do for us in regard to the incredible thing with which we are faced, remember that He does not work in the common sense ways, but in supernatural ways” (p. 60). 

  

Reading this was a challenge for me to not stop with ordinary prayers with easily attainable outcomes, but to ask God for the seemingly miraculous or unattainable things. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Lord wants us to ask Him for the small things, but I think He also wants us to have faith like this blind beggar and ask Him for the seemingly ridiculous and impossible thing, that we may experience His supernatural power in our lives. According to Chambers, “If it is an impossibility, it is the thing we have to ask” (p. 60). The blind beggar, when asked by the Lord, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41), asked Him for the impossible—to receive his sight. And he did!

According to Chambers, “Faith is not in what Jesus says but in Himself”. I thought this was so true and fitting for many of us today when we stare into the blackness and mystery of the future, shrouded by uncertainties and unknowns. There is only one thing that is certain and in which we can hope—the character of Christ, a man who never changes, more than that, a God who never fails or forsakes us, His beloved. It is my own self-will that causes me not to trust Him. My worry is only evidence of the immaturity of my trust in Him and my forgetfulness to remember Who He is. 

Today, let us remember the goodness and faithfulness and promised provision of our God and pray for what we think are impossibilities.

References

Chambers, O. (1997). My utmost for His highest. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour & Co

NCLEX Scheduling Information

When you schedule your NCLEX, there are three main steps you need to take (possibly more depending on the state). The three steps are register online with the State Board of Nursing with which you wish to be licensed, register with Pearson, and get fingerprinted. In North Carolina the cost of registering to be considered eligible to sit for boards was $75 and is done through Nurse Gateway, which is the portal used to register and check the status of your application to become an RN. The cost to actually take the test at one of Pearson's testing centers was $200. For the background check, the cost of the background investigation was $38, and the cost to have my fingerprints taken with the LiveScan (a requirement of the NC state board of nursing [NCBON]) was $10 at the nearest LiveScan equipped police department in NC. For more information about testing in North Carolina, see the NCBON website and check out the information listed under the licensure/listing tab.

Once you have filled out all your information online or on paper forms (depending on your state protocol), routed your official transcript electronically or through the mail (NC requires electronic for out of state school applicants such as Liberty), registered with Pearson Vue, and submitted your fingerprints and release of personal information, you will await the approval to test (ATT). Once you receive your ATT, schedule your test RIGHT AWAY! I, unfortunately, waited about 30 hours to schedule my test after receiving my ATT because I wanted to take more practice quizzes and see how I was doing before scheduling my test  date. I had no idea that test dates were filling up quickly, and I was forced to wait several more weeks than I would have liked to test.

The story of my NCLEX is to be continued...I test on June 16th.