You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. - Psalm 56: 8 (NLT)
He collects our very tears! God isn't some detached entity up in the sky hurling lightening bolts down upon is in disapproval! But He wants us to pursue Him beloved. He at least wants us to pursue Him like we pursue some other things in this world. Like we pursued our spouse. Or like we pursued our career. When we finally choose to pursue Him as such we can expect there to be things trying to crowd us out, like this woman faced that day. Just like blind Bartimaeus:
Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" - Mark 10: 46-48 (NIV)
The more they tried to silence him, the louder he shouted! The more this world tries to prevent you from pursuing God - the more fervently you need to! Bartimaeus would receive his sight that day. The woman with the issue of blood would be healed.
This brings us to the key verse for today. The final line from the story of the woman with the issue of blood. Twelve long years she suffered. Twelve long years she sought out the expert advice of the world only to be still found suffering. Then those words spoken from Jesus' lips - your suffering is over. Notice however it is her faith that makes her well. This is a common theme throughout the healing ministry from Jesus. Even to Bartimaeus, Jesus said that it was his faith that healed him. That is the final lesson for today. God of course provides the healing. The power comes from Christ. But without faith we cannot access it. Without faith we cannot activate it.
He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." - Matthew 17: 21 (NIV)
The world will ask you how you feel about the mountain. It will ask you to assess the mountain and figure out where it came from. It will cause you to dread the mountain and take medication to make it seem less imposing. Eventually, the world hopes to teach you how to live with your mountain. God doesn't care how you feel about it. He doesn't care where it came from and He certainly doesn't want you to learn how to live with it. He wants you to activate your faith in who He is and cast it into the sea! Beloved, the Words of the Bible are powerful beyond our mortal comprehension. But without belief - they are just words written on paper. We cannot have an intellectual faith. If the Bible is merely an academic exercise to us then there will be no Spiritual witness to it.
I do not know where this writing finds you. Suffering is part of the human experience. Do not listen to those who are picking your pockets with one hand while promising you a kumbya existence in Christ out of the sides of their mouths. Walk through the valley with God leading you and watch as He deepens your faith in who He is. That is where the power is. It starts in the saving knowledge of who Jesus is and flows all the way down to the mere hem of His garment; waiting for us to press in, reach out, and touch it by faith.
Reverend Anthony Wade - August 8, 2013
