This week’s reading: Matthew 9:27-38
Hi Friends,
One of the ways that God helps us get grounded in our Faith, and then grow in it, is by stretching us. We humans would love it if God “jumped to it” in answering our requests the moment we presented them to Him, but this is not what is best for us. Let’s talk about it this week as we continue in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 9 verses 27 through 38. But hear these two verses:
“When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith let it be done to you’” Mt 9:28-29 NIV
He had gone indoors. As Jesus continues along His journey this day, two blind men follow, calling out for His help. It is not that Jesus did not hear them. It certainly is not that He did not want to help them. And it for sure ain’t that He could not help them. So why did Jesus go indoors instead of approaching these needy men? I believe it was to stretch their Faith, to see how much they really believed Jesus could answer their prayers. You see, if we kind of want something, then we are not going to be persistent about seeking the One who can answer them. If we really want it, we might get a bit more bold…but like these blind men, if we are desperate for the help of Jesus, if we truly believe that He is our one and only solution, then we are going to do all we can to come to Him, and as often as we can. Note how Jesus answers them, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” If we have a small amount of Faith, we can still trust God to move mountains. Yet the stronger we become in our Faith, the more readily we are to believe God for the impossible, the more incredible things we will experience here on earth. And so God must stretch our Faith, growing it so that He can display His glory to, then through us, more and more. Again, I believe this is what Jesus is doing here with these two blind men. And they both receive their sight as a demonstration of their Faith in Christ. How wonderful is that?!
Persistence. Endurance. Perseverance. These are words I sadly think our world today knows, less and less. We live in an immediate gratification culture and to wait on anything just seems like a waste of time. Yet it is as we wait, as we choose to trust God in the midst of waiting, that our Faith must grow…or shrivel up and die. If it is true Faith, based on the love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then it will never disappear, because it is not up to you or me…thank God! In both Isaiah 42:3 and Matthew 12:20, the Bible says, “…a smoldering wick he will not snuff out…” This means no matter how low our inner light might get, that is no matter how weak our Faith may seem to us, Jesus will never allow it to be fully extinguished. This “little Light of mine” within is not from you or me. It is the Holy Spirit who lives within, so we never have to worry about getting to the point where we have zero Faith. We do, however, need to work with the Holy Spirit to fan this flame so that it burns bright. (2Ti 1:6) Every gift God gives are irrevocably given, (Ro 11:29) but whether we have access to it, whether we are using it skillfully, whether it is getting stronger and more influential, all these are determined by how much we allow God to work in and through us. So when we are praying for God to answer some long awaited prayer, and He has not done so as of yet, we must dig in and keep on praying and believing and trusting. This stretches, it grows and reshapes our Faith, so that we will be open to the more miraculous things God can do in and through us. Oh and by the way, if our Faith is not based on God, then we will fade away, some quicker than others, but we will not remain. If you are not sure about this, we will get into more details when we arrive at Matthew chapter 13 and the Parable of the Sower. For now, let’s praise God that He will not let our Light go out and that He will encourage us to fan this flame every day.
Excuses. When you encounter those who do not believe in Christ, who are not operating in this place of Faith, they will always come up with some type of excuse as to why things are happening the way they are. In this week’s reading, we encounter more Pharisees downplaying the sovereignty of Jesus as He heals a mute man possessed by a demon. How could one not be amazed at the power and authority of Jesus in these situations, right? Yet we see this in our world today as well. Certainly, I experienced it all the time with my Beckie. So many times there were absolutely NO OTHER REASON why she would survive another crisis, yet the doctors tried to come up with answers. Thankfully, no one did to me what the Pharisees are trying to do to Jesus here! Instead of praising God for the healing, no, they say that Jesus must be the devil. Yikes! Remember what He told the two blind men? “According to your faith let it be done to you”? This works both ways, my Friends. If we choose to be persistent and keep on trusting God, then the way God answers our prayers will be wonderful, no matter how He answers them. But if we refuse to trust Him…well, God’s answers might not be pleasing at all. This is yet another reason why we must be ever careful about the enemy and his excuse bag. He will hand you all sorts of excuses from his endless bag if we are not careful. For instance, if someone asks you to pay for them…here comes the excuse bag! After all, you are so tired, or you have chores to do, you will do it later, maybe at night, before you go to bed…and so on it goes. Sadly, way too often, we never get around to the praying. We have to be persistent in recognizing and fighting the enemy and his tricks too! And when we don’t, God just might allow the situation to get desperate until we finally, like these two blind guys, follow Jesus long enough that we are willing to go indoors, wherever He is, to seek His help. This might mean going to a church, joining a Bible study, or even better, opening a Bible and doing our own study! Imagine that! We will become more persistent in seeking Jesus, and thank God, when we do, we will find Him. God will either answer our prayer or keep growing us as we wait on His answer.
Sheep without The Shepherd. One of the main concerns of Jesus was, and still is, how we are all like sheep who do not have anyone leading them the right way. Ultimately, Jesus of course is our Good Shepherd and the only one we should be following. (check out the Gospel of John chapter 10) But we must first connect with Jesus in our secret place. This most private and intimate place is called our spirit. It is here where the Holy Spirit connects to our spirit— no one else exists there except God and us. It is our sanctuary where we can be open and vulnerable and real with God as we lay bare our hearts to Him, trusting Him with all our thoughts and questions, hurts and emotions, and so on. Unlike going inward, where we are only seeking MMI, what I think, I feel and I want, here we learn to seek God and what God thinks, feels and wants. The Holy Spirit starts with the Word of God and opens our minds to be able to understand it more and more, so we can make choices that align more and more to God’s Will for our lives. It is here where we learn His Voice and how to follow Him above every other voice that has been instilled within us. We learn to discern between God’s truth and the lies of those three enemies we have: the devil and his cohorts, this corrupt world system and/or our own fallen, broken, old sinful Self. The more time we spend with God in this quiet place, the more equipped we are to get rid of the past offenses and deceptions that are still holding us back. Holding us back from what? From being everything God originally designed us to be…and this just might include becoming one of His workers.
The workers are few. We end this week’s talk just like Jesus ended our reading, with a plea for us to pray for more workers. What is Jesus talking about? More people like you and me who desire to spread the news! Once we are born again, certainly once we begin to grow in this Faith, we are to share the Good News of the Gospel with those around us. Just in our ordinary, day to day lives, we should be acting different than we used to, as well as different than this world. This serves to draw others to Christ when they want the peace and joy we have, even in the midst of our struggles, just like we are displaying. As the saying goes, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” And if the enemy is handing you more of his excuses, even right now, as to why you cannot possibly do this, then at a minimum pray for God to raise bold Christians who will take this leap of Faith!! This world is dying for lack of workers, my Friends, and if you are not called to go, please, oh please help those of us who live for it! You can help me be a worker by sharing my website, articles, videos, book. And if you know a church or organization that needs a speaker, won’t you point them my way, perhaps adding a kind recommendation to boot? All these are ways to help me join the harvest team. It is my heart’s greatest desire to bring others to Christ, so I appreciate all the help I can get! Either be sent by God to work the harvest or send others. This is part of what the Body of Christ should be doing, more on that next week. For now, I ask, as I always do, for you to make a firm decision to follow after Jesus more, so… won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
