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.