How would you like to be such a failure in life that failure was built into your name? Have you heard of Bartimaeus, a blind man Jesus met on the roadside in Jericho? You might think that Bartimaeus was a name like Tom or Gary or Josh. No, Bartimaeus means “son of Timai,” or “son of uncleanness.”

Bartimaeus was born a failure. His father was considered unclean for some reason and now here he was, son of the unclean one. The fact that he was blind only confirmed to the Jews that he was a sinner from a family of sinners totally outside God’s favor.

But here came Jesus walking along with a large crowd in tow. Something rose up inside Bartimaeus to frustrate the failure he had lived with since birth. That something was faith. He raised such a ruckus and would not be quieted until finally “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.'” (Mark 10:49)

As Bartimaeus jumped to his feet to meet Jesus, he did something interesting. He threw his cloak off. Blind men wore special cloaks to mark themselves and their condition. This son of uncleanness was so certain that Jesus would heal him that he threw his blind cloak away.

How did faith finish? When Jesus asked him what he wanted, “the blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.'”(Mark 10:51) “‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.'” (Verse 52) He received his sight immediately.

Are you sitting by the roadside in failure? It can’t be worse than Bartimaeus. Start raising a ruckus. When Jesus calls, throw the failure cloak off and wrap yourself in faith. Remember Bartimaeus: faith frustrates failure.