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Posts Tagged ‘confidence’

Tabitha, Get Up!

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Acts 9:40
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.

Some say that the person who is sick must have faith in order to receive a healing. But doesn’t this story contradict that idea? Tabitha could not have had anything in mind–she was dead. Well, then, they say, the person praying must have great faith. But there are examples in scripture where a person is healed only by touching the garment of Jesus or one of the disciples.

Let’s face it. Healing is a mystery. And so is death and illness.

Why do some get sick and some not? Why do some die from their illness and some not? We will never know.

It is God who heals and not we, ourselves, no matter how much faith we have. God is sovereign and God chooses. In most cases, healing and resurrection have a longer reach than just a benefit for the person healed or raised from the dead. Either Jesus was building faith in his followers or he was removing the veil from the eyes of the unbelievers that they might see and believe.

There are a few instances when Jesus specifically told the healed person not to tell. My guess would be that these healings were for the witnesses present and would not serve to rouse faith in non-believers. In other words, there was no point in telling because nothing would come out of it.

What does all this mean for me today? I wish I knew. I know in my heart if I could consistently hear God’s voice within, I would know how to pray for those who are sick (emotionally and physically). But, heck, I can’t even hear His voice to find a misplaced book, much less broker health.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of my favorite photographers, said that he would hear the word “yes” in his mind whenever he was looking through the viewfinder. And in that moment, he would know that he had captured something meaningful. I believe this “yes” is the same voice for healing.

Lord, as I pray for others, speak your “yes” that I might hear and the sick made well. Give me confidence to pray. And may every healing bring your kingdom closer to our hearts.

I pray again today for Kim G, Vanessa M, Anne W, Sarah W, Rebecca M, Becky T, Jeff B, Chelsea A, John, Janis U, and Lily B.

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Symbiosis

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 14:11a
“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;…”

Here’s the definition of symbiosis: any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two persons, groups, etc. Here are some synonyms: cooperation, collaboration, synergy, union, combined effort, alliance, harmony, unity.

This is one way of describing the relationship that Jesus had with the Father while He was on earth. This is the relationship that we can have as well.

What is preventing us from having this symbiotic experience? Probably it’s sin: control, self-motivation, personal preferences, personal power, self-interest, fear, distrust.

What does it take to experience symbiosis: trust, faith, risk, courage, confidence, love.

How many of us have “asked Jesus into our hearts,” or “asked Jesus to be the Lord of our lives” … [pick any one of these cliches]… and then we ask Jesus, the very Son of God who is in direct symbiosis with God the Father, we ask him to sit in a corner and wait until we really need him to ask him into the fray.

In a symbiotic relationship, both parties are working for a common purpose. They are still individual, but they are something new together as well. This is the “new creation.”

This is my mantra today: I am in Jesus and Jesus is in me. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. I am in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in me.

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Nothing to Lose

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on June 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 21:2-3
He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

The hard part of giving is struggling with our desire to keep the stuff. At least, that’s one of my issues. I grew up fairly poor. My mother was a widow who somehow managed to raise two children on less than $10,000 a year. And yet, she always provided food on the table, invited people to our table who were less fortunate than we were, and always had cut flowers in our home and on her desk to give cheer and hope to others.

She gave out of what she had: her love for beauty, her time, her enthusiasm, her hope.

Although I have managed to attain a middle class lifestyle, I find myself holding too tightly to the things that come with it. I am afraid of being poor again. And I know that fear betrays my confidence in God to take care of me. I am ashamed to admit it and even more afraid to say it: will I be tested through an unexpected loss?

The poor widow in Jesus’s story understood that she had nothing to lose, things could only get better.

This past weekend, my brother’s apartment was robbed. They took everything that had street value: all of his electronics, movies, music, jewelry (including his wedding ring), and other miscellaneous valuables. He is being stripped of so many tanglibles and like Job, he wants to know why. I have no answers.

But it is a wake up call for me. I am being challenged to simplify my life. If I can let go myself, then it may not be needful to wrench the stuff away. Oh Lord, forgive my stubborn holding on to the ephemeral things of life. Give me courage relinquish “stuff” and cherish, instead, relationships, love, joy, hope, transformation, and Spirit.

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