On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered…And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
Luke 6:6, 10 (ESV)
Lord Jesus, I so often feel like that man with a withered hand, in Your presence but unable to reach out and touch You or effect change in my world. In my mind’s eye I can see that man, going about his life, his activities normalized by his deformity, used to not being able to do “normal” things or having to compensate in how he is going about doing life because of his lack. And for him, it is “normal.” No different than a person with a limp, a stutter, or poor eyesight. He’s learned to live with it. And what I find most striking is that he is in Your midst, having heard, I’m sure, about the miraculous things You have done, and he does not think to ask You to heal him…
Lord, I am, in so many ways that man! What have I just accepted as “just the way things are” in my life? What have I just assumed is going to be this way? Where have I lowered my expectations on what You can wrought in my world? Where have I lowered the bar on how You can glorify Yourself in my condition?
Help me, Lord, to raise my expectations. Don’t allow me to be lulled into the doldrums of complacency by the waiting process. But instead remind me of the many miracles that were not written down, that John declares took place, so many that we could not record them all (John 21:25). Little miracles, big miracles, subtle miracles, bodacious miracles, healing miracles, provision miracles – miracles that changed lives and opened doors. You are always at work changing lives.
But most importantly, reinforce my faith and ground me in the hope today of what You can and will do in my life. Beckon me to bring everything to You, great and small, believing that You care about it, even if I have learned to live with it, and that You will remedy it in Your time to Your glory. Don’t allow me to just accept less than but instead to stretch forth my hand to reach towards what can be in You. Amen.