And he did so

 

Four words jumped off the pages of my Bible into my heart this morning, 

“And he did so”

 In Luke 6, Jesus was teaching in the synagogue when He noticed a man whose right hand was withered.

Jesus knew the critical thoughts of the religious leaders and that they were watching Him closely in order to accuse Him, but He went to the man anyway. Jesus wasn’t swayed by His critics.

Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” 

And he did so,

And his hand was restored as whole as the other.

”Stretch out your hand” would have been a simple command for most people, but I’m sure it was much different for this man.

He was stretching out more than his withered hand, he was stretching out his weakness, brokenness, shame, and disappointment. To openly display what he had often kept hidden must have been such a vulnerable moment for him, but he did it. Standing in front of Jesus as well as the criticizing religious leaders, he stretched out his brokenness along with his faith.

He did not allow pride, shame or his own understanding to hinder what Jesus wanted to do in his life. This man could have thought “I’m not going to stretch out my hand in front of all these people, that’s foolish. What difference will it make?” But he simply obeyed the words of Jesus and he was made whole. 

Faith and obedience often sound like,

 “ok, Jesus, this doesn’t make sense to me, but at your Word I will obey because I trust you.” 

Isn’t that what simple child like faith looks like?  In the previous chapter of Luke, we read about Peter also responding in simple faith and obedience. 

Jesus told Peter to “launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter responded by saying, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your Word, I will let down the net.”

Peter also was willing to obey His Word even though it didn’t make sense to him. What happened when Peter simply obeyed? The boats were filled with fish to the point of almost sinking! 

Jesus, You are worthy of our trust. Your are worthy of our obedience. Thank you for Your compassion that beckons us to come out of hiding from places of brokenness and shame. Thank You for inviting us to stretch out our faith in You by obeying Your Word. 

Learning to Slip Away lest we Drift Away

 

To drift means to be carried slowly by a current, to carelessly pass by. 

To drift away means to lose personal contact over time.

We were hanging out with friends in the lake once when I noticed how far we had drifted from the dock. The drift happens slowly to the point we don’t even realize we have drifted away from our starting point. 

Slipping away is intentional. 

Jesus was continually surrounded by large multitudes who wanted to hear Him, touch Him, and receive healing from Him. He never became overwhelmed by the crowds, but always looked upon them with compassion because they were like sheep without a Shepherd. The crowds were lost, aimless, helpless and scattered, yet Jesus did not see them as hopeless. When He looked at them, He saw a huge harvest. 

Jesus also knew how to withdraw from the crowds into the lonely places to pray. He knew how to slip away and spend time with His Father. Luke 5:15-16 says that “great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” 

He modeled this slipping away to pray so that we may learn and do the same. Mark 3:13-14 says that Jesus called and appointed the 12 and they came to him. He appointed them that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. 

We are to be with Him in the secret place so that He may send us out. We are His sheep and we go in and out and find pasture. We enter into His presence and become filled with all His fullness, then we are sent out and poured out only to return back to the secret place. 

When we neglect spending time alone with our Father, we allow doubt to enter and give our feelings reign over our spirits instead of truth. We must learn to slip away with Him lest we drift away from truth. Jesus IS Truth. When we spend time with Him, we are soaking in Truth. Hebrews 2:1-4 says “ So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.“