I'm gonna be honest: Job is hitting a little too close to home these days, and I'm just not interested in dwelling there. I'm having a tough time forcing myself to read these passages. I know what the overall point of the book is and I know it ends positively with Job (and hopefully his friends) learning a great lesson about the sovereignty of God, but right now, these current passages? Not helping.
So on to Matthew....
Chapter 10 opens with Jesus calling his disciples, preparing them for a short missions trip, and giving them the authority to drive out demons and heal "every disease and sickness."
I wonder what kind of a meeting this must have been! Did He lay His hands on each of them and pray, or did He just tell them they'd be able to do these miraculous things now on His behalf? Did He tell them it was just temporary, or did someone try to heal someone after the missions trip was over and suffer embarassment and ridicule and confusion because suddenly he wasn't capable anymore? What must the disciples ~ who are also called apostles here for the first time in the New Testament ~ have thought?! What was running through Judas' mind when he suddenly had this power?
I think it's notable that they were given the power to heal EVERY disease and sickness. Not just the really big, bad ones, like leprosy and cancer, but annoying migraines, coughs and colds, too. Nothing was too big for God, but nothing was too small for His attention either. I find that comforting.
But even so, this didn't mean they healed every single instance, just that they could heal every single KIND of sickness or disease. Not everyone who came to them for restoration was healed ~ Mark 6:13 says they drove out many demons and healed many sick people. Many, but not all. We see this all over Jesus' ministry, too, that while He did heal vast numbers of people, not nearly everyone was healed.
It's the same today, but the beautiful reassurance remains that nothing is too big or too small for God to handle and no details escape His attention. HOW He handles our sicknesses and other struggles will vary from instance to instance and from individual to individual, but we ALL have the assurance that He will carry us through, one way or the other.
Tomorrow's passages: Job 17-19 and Matthew 10:21-42
4 comments:
You know, that did end up kinda going with the whole Job theme after all. ;)
Something that's so hard for us to reconcile sometimes - He can but He doesn't always.
Yeah, I was a little amused when I noticed that yesterday, too!
Thanks for the reminder that God cares for even the little things!
So true. "Many, but not all." I have never thought about it like that.
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