Be strong! Don’t fear! God will save.
Does your spirit need reminding lately? How about your heart?
Read Psalm 146 and be reminded of the magnificence of the Lord who frees prisoners, gives sight to the blind, loves and protects. Read it again. Then read it over again.
Do you believe it? I mean, really believe it.
When we fully believe something, it gives us that solid anchor below the surface. It doesn’t mean the waves won’t come, or the storms – His word even tells us when not if. Unfortunately, today’s circumstances surround us with those who believe in what science A says, and those who believe what science B says. The trouble is that science is science. Science is rooted in facts, discovered through experiment and observation. Those who made science their anchor are finding themselves pitted against each other, many blowing around.
If you need more scriptural memories, look at Isaiah 45 and then the story of Jesus healing the deaf man in Mark 7.
Be strong! Don’t fear! God will save.
God is consistent in this revelation, in His promise, to give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf. To heal the lame and speechless. To you ever feel blind? Lame?
How about debilitated with fear? Immobile or hindered by anxiety? What about lost on what direction to take?
He is there.
One thing I find beautiful in the gospel of Mark’s story is that Jesus took the man away from the crowd. Why? Was he offering the man privacy? Was he removing them from the chaos? Surely it must have been hard to hear him in the midst of a crowd. I can just imagine Jesus taking the moment to connect, intimately, with this man who probably felt that broken was his identity. Lost. Maybe perpetual fear over how he would survive. Maybe Jesus took that moment to make eye contact with him, to make sure that once he was healed he heard Jesus’ voice.
Regardless, the man left the encounter with Christ with his ears opened and his tongue untied.
Father God, may we all have such encounters with Christ Jesus that forever alter us.
Be strong! Don’t fear! God will save.
Lord you have not promised us a life of ease, a life without consequences or confusion. We ask that you would meet us in the midst. We pray that Emmanuel would truly be with us as we seek to honor you with our ears, our tongues, our minds and our hearts. Help us to know that you still save and heal, and help us to trust Your method and journey for this. Holy Spirit help us to remember. Help us remember who our Lord is! May our fragrance be pleasing unto you this week, Father God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The readings appointed for Sunday September 5:
Psalm 146; Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:31-37
Translation: Common English Bible
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