Receive the Greatest Gift
The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:15
We see several accounts of Jesus healing people and bringing them back from the dead in the scriptures but this one particular account got my attention. As I am a part of a bible study currently at our church, my pastor is working his way through the book of Luke. In his commentary of this section of scripture in Luke 7 he made a very valid point that caused me to write this in my Bible margin “Jesus saw the widows need and raised the dead”. In context, this widow had lost her son and was crying when Jesus came on the scene. Not only was she emotionally distraught because she had lost her husband and now her son but this was a financial burden for her as well. The son was her provision, without a husband she needed her son to work to provide for her and now he was gone as well. Her needs were great emotionally and physically. Although I can say that as a widow I feel very cared for by my church and family, I still find myself with emotional and physical needs. One of my greatest needs and the desire of my heart is a husband, someone in which to to share life. I know that Isaiah 54:5 tells me that my “Maker is my husband – the Lord Almighty is his name” in which I rejoice but that doesn’t stop the desire I have for the companionship of a earthly husband. I am content in Christ and love Jesus with all of my heart but I believe the desire I have to be married again comes from the Lord and because I delight in Him, He promises to give me the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4). However, if I may be honest, walking in this faith daily for five years has been a struggle for me. What prayer are you waiting for God to answer for you? Do you struggle as I do to believe that the desires of your heart are from God and He will fulfill His promise to you? Have you considered that He is answering your prayer but you just can’t see it yet?
In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman begs Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter who is not with her. He responds to her saying, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted”. In Mark 10 Jesus heals a blind man with these words, “Go…your faith has healed you.” And in Luke 17 he said to the leper “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” FAITH. Oh, how I pray for faith that heals. Jesus wants me to have that kind of faith. Before James fully surrendered to the Lord, I remember having a very honest conversation with God. I came to the conclusion that James would come home, that our marriage would be restored some day. Honestly, I thought I would be in my 60’s but I was willing to accept that however long it took, it would happen. It was when I felt “released”, that I actually saw the change in James. At first I didn’t believe it happened. Like the Canaanite woman whose daughter wasn’t with her when God healed her, God did the work in James when we were not together. It seemed like I came home one day and “poof – new James”. “She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone”, Mark 7:30. So the questions I ask myself and I challenge you to ask yourself, first “do you believe?” It’s ok if you struggle with your belief, many do. I cry to Jesus all the time as did the father of boy with an evil spirit, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief”, Mark 9:24. And second, do you believe He is answering your prayer right now and you can’t see it yet? Possibly He wants you to wait so that you will get the full harvest of the fruit of the blessing.
“When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden, it must not be eaten. In the forth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise of the Lord. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:24.