Persistence
(S) Scripture
As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.
Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"
Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked.
"Lord," they answered, "we want our sight."
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Matthew 20:29-34 (NIV)
(O) Observation
These men knew that Jesus could restore their sight and so as he came by they yelled to him. The crowd tried to silence them but they yelled even louder. They were not going to let this opportunity pass. As blind men they were most likely outcasts in that society and therefore could have been intimidated by the crowd. Not these two, they wanted to get Jesus' attention and be healed and so they yelled over the objections of the crowd. The result of their persistence was that Jesus heard them and healed them.
(A) Application
I wonder if I let the crowd dictate to me how I should act. Do I get quiet when I need to yell because my crying out to the Lord upsets the crowd? Do I let the pressure from them keep me from crying out to the Lord? Am I more concerned with being proper than being persistent? Sometimes I am those things. Today I will be persistent in my prayer. It is not a sign of a lack of faith but rather a sign that I trust you to hear me and act. Some have wrongly said that to pray about something more than once is a sign of not really trusting God but this passage teaches us to be persistent in our prayers. Today I will be persistent in trusting in God's power to act.
(P) Prayer
Lord I trust you. Teach me to pray persistently and to trust in your ability and power and desire to act. Today I pray for Tom's healing. Act on his behalf today, let him and his family sense your presence. Give them comfort and strength for each day. Teach me to trust you completely. Amen
2 comments:
This story reminds me of another story in the Gospels where the neighbor pounds on the door of their friend, looking for some food in the middle of the night so that a weary travel who has stopped by may eat. It doesn't mean that we are to act like the squeeky wheel, begging God to give us the "oil" that we need. Neither does it mean that we can somehow threaten the sovereignty of God by harrassing him into doing our will. It's simply an illustration that God welcomes persistence as a sign of our passion to be intimately connected with Him. A loving father never gets tired of hearing from their children, not matter how many times the "cry" may come. He never gets weary of "getting up in the middle of the night" and giving us His attention. Agree???
"Buddy"
AGREE
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