Lord In All Circumstances
Readings for this week May 6 - 12
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Day 1 – Something Out of the Ordinary
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Mark 3:1-12
When people heard that there was a man exhibiting uncommon power to heal not only the most debilitating, crippling, long-lasting illnesses, and diseases, but also to eliminate the most heinous spiritual afflictions and possessions, it would be an understatement to say they flocked to see him. They came from everywhere – from across the entire land of Israel and beyond – to be healed and restored. So great were their numbers that Mark records the very real fear that Jesus might be (unintentionally) crushed by the sheer weight of people who have sought him out for healing. And that was the attraction for them: he could heal. In a time and place where medical knowledge was incredibly rudimentary, and malignant spiritual realities were greatly feared, and where people’s ability to deal with either effectively was limited, someone who could powerfully deal with both would be eagerly sought out and accosted.
But there is more than just feel-good healing and restoration going on here. Jesus is not just patching up wounds and holes, whether in people or reality, as freeing and transforming as that is for people. At a deeper level of engagement, he is challenging the very powers and forces that undermine God’s rule and authority and announcing that the end of their domination and distortion of human beings made in God’s image starts now. These forces and spirits know that they are encountering someone of far greater power and presence than themselves, someone with power of an order of magnitude far greater than theirs. They cannot help but declare His name, acknowledging who it is that is dethroning them.
Question to Consider
What do you think was going through the minds of those in the crowd?
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for your healing power that runs deeper than just our hurts and illnesses, but that attends to the cracks in all of reality. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Do Not Be Afraid – Have Faith
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Matthew 9:18-26
Several things stand out in this passage, most especially the levels of faith displayed by the father of the dead girl and the woman with the issue of bleeding, and the range of Jesus’ healing abilities: from an issue of blood to the veil of death. The woman doesn’t even seek a face-to-face encounter with Jesus – for her, it would be enough to merely touch the edge of his cloak and she would be healed. Whether from a humility that does not wish to disturb Jesus and impose upon his time, or from the fear of potential embarrassment should she share her predicament in public, she believes touching his cloak is enough to heal her. As for the ruler, the miracle of healing on display here shows us that Jesus could raise the dead, to reach beyond our human horizon and return even the dead to life.
Do not be afraid. Just have faith. Sometimes faith is born of desperation, of extremity and hopelessness. After twelve years of illness the woman is desperate to be healed; and there is no more poignant and (on the face of it) pointless desperation than that of a parent mourning a dead child. And yet Jesus responds to all of them. He brings hope and life out of despair and death. God is a God who heals, who longs to heal, who can heal and restore any situation, even one that has already passed beyond the bounds of death. God’s gift of grace and life has the final say, no matter how dire the circumstance. He is the God of the impossible.
Question to Consider
What does faith look like day to day? In what ways does it change who we are and how we view Jesus?
Prayer
Almighty Father, strengthen my faith. Take me deeper into you; teach me to trust you more and hope for greater things than I might otherwise. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – The One and the Nine
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Luke 17:11-19
Jesus heals ten lepers. Only one comes back to thank him. The first thing to notice is that there is initially no mention of healing. Jesus simply tells them all to go and show themselves to the priests. (The priests would be the ones someone would go to verify any healing, so that the priests could officially declare that the person was welcomed back into the community of the faithful – no more ostracism needed. And perhaps Jesus wants the priests to hear yet more stories of miraculous healings by Jesus…) Their healing seems to stem from their obedience to Jesus – it is only as they are doing this that they are healed.
God’s graciousness is often overlooked, ignored, or simply taken for granted. And sometimes the full measure of God’s blessing is only apparent to those who are grateful. Only the leper who returned heard the words “Your faith has made you well.” His gratitude has revealed his faith. Jesus commends him and tells him he is grateful for his expression of thankfulness. God is sovereign and God is love. He is the God who heals, and although there is no set calculus that we can see that explains who is or is not healed and why, things like obedience and gratitude do seem to figure prominently in many of the healings that Jesus performed. We cannot force God’s hand, but as disciples we can grow in character and in outlook to be closer to the One who heals, and more awake to His work.
Question to Consider
Why do you think the leper who returned to thank Jesus did so? Why do you think the others didn’t?
Prayer
Loving Father, forgive me for the times when I have not stopped to thank you for the blessings you have given me. Help me be more grateful in future, to you and to others in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Seeing and Believing
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Mark 8:22-30
In structuring this passage in the way, he has; Mark has highlighted the fact that there is a two-stage process at work here. After putting saliva in the man’s eyes, Jesus asks him what he can see. “People,” the man replies, “but they look like trees.” Jesus lays his hands on the man and then he can see clearly. A second touch reveals the reality of everything to the man. Likewise, at this point, the crowds see the miracles and hear the teaching, but, at best, see Jesus as a powerful prophet. But, alone with the disciples, their insight leads them beyond this interpretation, to the truth of Jesus’ Messiahship. There is more than just healing going on here.
Jesus is Lord of All: Lord of the chaos inside and the chaos outside; Lord of healing and restoration. But beyond the healing is of course the healer and the one to whom the healer was pointing. Such healing as Jesus performed was miraculous and revealed the heart of God for his broken creation. But such healing also led on to the challenge of Jesus and questions about who he was and what it was he was calling us to do – whether to respond to God for the first time or push deeper into the relationship with Him we already have. Healing reveals the reality of the kingdom and the nature of the King Himself and challenges us to take the King – and His claims – seriously, and then respond to what the King has done for us or said to us. Healing is miraculous and life-changing, but it is never the last step, only the next step – even if the first – with God.
Question to Consider
How does insight grow in you? What insights into Jesus as Messiah, for example, have you had? How does the healing power of Jesus fit in?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me remained tuned into you. You have things still to show me and teach me – may I remain focused on you. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – When Healing Doesn’t Happen
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Matthew 17:14-16
The gospels are full of examples of Jesus healing people, exorcising demons, and raising people to life. People from all walks of life, of all ages, with all sorts of illnesses and injuries, came to see him, bringing family and friends, because they had heard that Jesus could heal them. With each wound healed, with each illness defeated, with each life changed, people got a glimpse of the kingdom, of the restored and transformed world that Jesus heralded and that his teaching and miraculous signs and wonders were a foretaste of.
But not everyone who prays for healing is healed. We all know this. Perhaps the healing is only partial or temporary. Perhaps one person is healed of the very thing that claims the life of someone else. Some of us have experienced not being healed for ourselves; others have prayed for friends and family to be healed…and it has not occurred. Illness remains, sickness persists, and sometimes death is the result. And perhaps we question God about His seeming failure to heal. Or perhaps we question ourselves. Did we not pray hard enough or often enough? Did we do something wrong? To know that God heals – and wants to heal and promises to heal – can be a difficult thing to believe in those desperate times when the Lord of Chaos, the Lord of All, does not seem to act in a particular case. These times are hard, faith testing times, when it can seem hard to believe that God is with us – and yet He is. Always.
Question to Consider
When have you prayed for healing and healing has not occurred? What did you think? How did it shape your relationship with God?
Prayer
Loving God, you are a God of miracles and of hope. May we have faith in your desire for the former even when we struggle with the latter. May we always be mindful of your loving presence with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)