He Sighed

Mark 7:32-34 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

Right there in the last of today’s verses Jesus sighed. It seems innocuous but it tells me something. It says to me that Jesus was asked to do something unnecessary, that the acts He performed would look a little silly, might lead to misunderstanding, and from His own person point of view He could just say “Be opened.”

Have you ever baulked at doing something that God is asking of you because it doesn’t make sense. I once hugged a man who threw a beer bottle at me. He collapsed in my arms crying. It was not the normal human reaction to violent behavior but the result was God at work.

Parents with a dying child are asked to roll and spin on the floor as playing like a child. Make sense? No but when they did their child laughed and was healed. The truth in any of these matters from Jesus on down thru to you and me is this one thing, obedience of faith is what matters, not whether it makes sense or not.

The difficult part in all this is in believing you have heard God at all, much less rightly. That still small voice can be very hard to hear when people are screaming at you. It is even more difficult to hear through your own tears.

You cannot be obedient to what you do not hear.

Be still and know He is God.

Cannot Wait

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

For those of you who know pain, I understand. Pain is a great motivator. It will make you give up. It will make you give in. It will break your will. It will make you do things you would never consider without it. I cannot wait when pain no longer is a part of anyone’s life. That day is not today.

My prayer in all this is but one thing.

Father how can you be glorified in all this?

It says I don’t have all the answers, but I know what is expected.

It says I do not know what to do, but seek a path not clear to me through my tears.

It also says pain has not won even if I cannot see the end.

I cannot wait and yet I wait for the promise that lay ahead is mine, yours, ours, in Christ Jesus.

You are not alone. I am not alone.

To God be the glory.