Good Morning Friends,
Patience is a virtue but often it is God’s patience waiting for our action of faith that is the tipping point. In today’s scripture, we have a message for those who think they are living by faith but not getting the results, they had hoped for. No disrespect here but, Are You Waiting For God To Take Care Of Things?
Scripture: On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Isaiah 35:5-6 (NRSV)
Message: Many of us say we are living by faith but really do not understand that faith is more than simply believing God will take care of things while we wait. Sure, God is in control and certainly excessive worry is inappropriate, but scripture is not always clear for me when it comes to faith and appropriate actions. In other words, we should not be waiting for a supernatural event to solve our problems, but we should be waiting for natural events with perfect timing to combine for a solution we can as Christians attribute to God. Still reason alone does not get us to an answer. Scripture can be applied in error especially if we are impatient. For, at our core, I do not know anyone who really likes waiting. It can be a test of our faith and even make us less thankful. Of course, sometimes there are good reasons to wait. So, really the question is about what we to do when we are waiting and curing our ingratitude. Perhaps the first thing to do is to realize that while we are waiting, it really takes a lot of effort to believe that God hears our prayers for healing and belonging. And we need to be connected to a power that keeps our physical and spiritual hearts beating. The thing is that we are to have a degree of expectancy that something desired and miraculous is going to happen. In today’s text, we have a story within a story for the healing of people was tied up into the story of the coming of the Messiah and the reality is that Israel had been waiting a very long time for this to happen. The Jewish lepers had been waiting too but ultimately still relied on the law. Maybe the Samaritan was healed as a demonstration of new way though Christ. It was more that interesting that the Samaritan who had been part of the leper colony could not return to be part of the larger Jewish community once healed. But regardless his healing is the whole healing and not just the physical one. And it is this faith in something new and whole that glorifies God and makes the story so engaging.
And So,
the message is this: Being thankful for our situation in life is a good thing for the very attitude makes things better. God is good. Just look at all the Lord has given us. Every good and perfect gift is really from above. But even the bad things can help us to learn a very good lesson. The thing is that everything we enjoy we enjoy because of God and expressing that joy multiplies the gifts. So, we are to learn to be thankful for grace and the free and boundless mercy of God. We are to learn to be thankful for the life we have been given. Here we learn that the Christian life is really living one big “Thank you.” For God loves us and we are to do something about that blessing we have received. And that makes the waiting worth it and our actions in response to needs motivated out of love. And that makes all the difference in the world.
Pray we are thankful in all things. Pray that our hearts well up with thankful joy that shows on the outside. Pray we thank God for the food we share. Pray we thank God for the healing Jesus provides. Pray we never let our love grow cold. Pray we experience joy. Pray we realize it is a good thing to give thanks. Pray we be obedient to the Spirit. Pray we honor God with our faith. Pray we have a faith that prompts action, obedience and thankfulness. Pray we put our hope in God’s promises. Pray we expect mercy from Jesus even as we wait. Pray we trust in the Lord and not on our own understanding. Pray we realize that God works all things together for good for those called to a holy purpose. Pray that in seasons of waiting we take advantage of the opportunities to witness God at work in and through us for our eternal good and God’s glory. Pray we are cured both physically and spiritually. Pray we are made whole.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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