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Waiting
In the Impossible Jeanne Stewart,
Oklahoma
Standing at a distance, waiting in extreme anxiety, ten infectious lepers
cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” These diseased, dying,
miserable men were exiled and avoided by the general public as well as from
their loving families. They made such a clamor to be noticed by the Healer
that day on the border between Galilee and Samaria as the one named Jesus,
God’s Son, came passing through on His way to Jerusalem.
Jesus looked at them and in keeping with the rules of the Sanhedrin said, “Go
show yourselves to the priests.” And as they set out on the three day
journey toward Jerusalem, along the way they were outwardly cleansed of the
decaying disease of leprosy. Only one of them,
observing he was healed, made the journey back to Jesus shouting, “Praise
God!” Falling to the ground at Jesus’ feet in gratitude for his healing,
he gave Jesus worship. This man was a Samaritan, and knowing to whom all
honor was due, humbly identified with Jesus as Master. (Luke
17:14 -16) Something Good in the Midst of Suffering
~ “The Lord is righteous
in the midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His
justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame.” (Zephaniah
3:5)
Today there are those within the church who stand at a distance. In the midst
of suffering and anxiety, they do not understand why their healing does not
instantly come. They wait and watch as impossible situations ravage their
homes and lives. Faith seems destroyed by a contagious and misleading
unbelief of hopelessness. Feeling overlooked by the Healer passing in the
midst of their affliction, they become offended and discouraged during their
wait in what seems impossible to overcome. Their pride keeps them from
calling out again to the One who is ready to heal and restore what has been
lost. This story in Luke 17
affirms that the leprous men saw the outward manifestation of their healing,
but knew nothing of the inward restoration from the destroying disease of
sin. However, during the three day journey to Jerusalem, rest and restoration
was to come for one among the ten. Before showing himself to the priest,
before receiving his blessing of, ‘cleansed from leprosy,’ this one
leper chose to give righteousness its just due by
going back to thank Jesus first. Amazingly, in
going back to acknowledge the physical miracle of healing, this leper was
also made completely whole inwardly from the destructive power of the
disease. The one who receives healing with great joy cannot keep quiet. God
remains constant in the process of restoration. Waiting in what seems to be
the impossible is the highest place of believing faith with which we can
honor God. Our heartfelt gratitude of worship in the midst of waiting keeps
us looking ahead to the completion of the miracle and by faith we will
recover. (Mark 16:18) Rest is Within Restoration ~
We were not designed to be diseased and doubtful of our Creator, but to live
in the Glory of God. Nevertheless, sin entered in through disobedience, and
disease and weakness slipped in with it through the deception of Eden’s
tragedy. BUT GOD will deliver us in the midst of our waiting as we continue
to call out upon His name, for there is rest within the restoration of body,
mind and soul. The purpose of disease
is to destroy, but when Jesus rebukes the cause, it has to go back to its
place in outer darkness. Then restoration of what has been destroyed begins.
Whatever form disease takes, whether against our physical bodies, our mental
belief or the spiritual condition of our hearts, the miracle of healing
restoration subsequently sets in motion deliverance from the destructive
effects of the disease. We must remember that
all God’s promises are answered through prayer as He accomplishes His will.
If the miracle of healing is not instantaneous, we continue looking unto
Jesus and calling out upon His name as grace comes to completion. The Healer
restores what the enemy meant in us to destroy. Let us lean upon the Lord in
our time of waiting in the impossible, remembering that within the word rest
oration is found the word rest. Ending Prayer ~ Lord, as long as we
keep the difficulties of our needs before our face, Your face will be obscured
from the distance we keep You at. Help us to look to You in all our needs of
healing and provision for our families. Whatever You have to reveal to us in
these situations, let us see it with eyes of faith-believing hope until You
bring it to completion. May we be radiant with
joy and no shadow of shame will darken our faces, for Your reflection will be
within our eyes and on our faces for all to see and know. No matter how much
we want these difficulties to be over, we desire even more that Your will and
maturity in spiritual character would help us to wait in the impossible and
become the image of Your strength within us. In the lovely name of Jesus we
ask believing … amen. |
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