My need for You is great today, Father. I have no inkling as to what this day or this week has in store for me. But one thing I do know – my need for You is great. I need Your direction. I need Your correction. I need Your protection. I need Your compassion. Fill me with You. Amen.

Matthew 9:27-34 (<<click the green)

Hmmm…Lord, I noticed a little different reaction from You…but for good reason. “Two blind men followed along behind [You]” shouting for mercy – for healing. And Your response? It was not immediate. They followed You along the way and then followed You “right into the house where [You] were staying”.

First, You wanted them to verbalize their faith in Your ability to heal their sight but I believe, too, You knew what their response was going to do after they were healed and wanted to have them in a more intimate setting to warn them about what they were going to do. In fact, every translation I looked at uses one particular word to describe Your warning – sternly!

Dictionary.com defines stern as firm, strict, or uncompromising. Reading that description of how You warned them gave me pause to think but then I remembered another incident of healing that came with the same stern warning. It’s found in Mark 1:40-45 and Mark adds what the result of not heading Your warning was. Verse 45 states,

“But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.”

Because of disobedience, the entire dynamic of Your ministry was altered. Intimate interactions as we have seen become fewer and far between. Lord, You came to touch and impact those You loved, not just physically but spiritually. You did not come to be a spectacle. Your desire was not to be a showman.

Yes, You continued to minister. You touched thousands and thousands of lives – You did not hesitate to do so. But the aspect of personal, intimate ministry was greatly hindered.

Lord, help me to listen. Help me to do as You say. Help my exuberance to not hinder Your will. May I fall into step with Your plan. May I impact Your world as You would have me do, not as I think best. Amen.

Mar 12th, 2018, Mon, 6:14 am