Am I Awed?

Today's account in Luke told of Jesus first forgiving the paralytic whose friends lowered him through the roof, and then, when the Pharisees objected, healing that same man to show God's power. What struck me today were the verses at the end of the story (Luke 5:26):

And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen extraordinary things today.

When was the last time that I was seized by amazement at God's power? How long since I have been filled with awe at seeing His hand move? What was the last occasion that I told someone of the extraordinary things that the Lord has done? I haven't personally seen a lame man walk, yet just a few weeks ago, I read testimony of the miraculous healing of a little baby from a mass in his lung that just disappeared (here is the link to the blog: Our Journey of Love: Another EXTRAordinary Miracle). Why was I not filled with awe? Is it too removed? Am I too much living in an age of skepticism? I have seen with my own eyes people pray to receive Christ, and seen the changes that have occurred. In rare instances, I have a glimpse of the amazing work that the Lord has done in me. . . Why do I not shout that from the rooftops?

This morning my first prayer was that God would open my eyes to the miraculous things that He is doing all around me and within me. My second was that I would be filled with amazement and awe, and that I would share with others these extraordinary things--that I would be so overflowing with excitement and awe that I could not keep silent.

More Like Mary

I always enjoy reading Luke's account of the Christmas story. It's most familiar to me, and contains the most human interest of the four gospels, in my opinion. First Elizabeth finds out that, after years of barrenness, she is pregnant with the prophet of the Lord. Months later, Mary accepts the call of the Lord to bear Jesus, and she hurries to visit her cousin Elizabeth. As soon as Mary walks into the room, Elizabeth's baby John "jumps" in her womb. Amazing! Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks words of encouragement to Mary, including these found in Luke 1:45:

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

Mary will be blessed because she believed the words of the Lord. I secretly delight in verses that contain feminine pronouns (and yes, I know that most of the "he's" do apply to me), because they instantly draw me closer to the text.

How does this apply to me? Obviously, no angel has appeared to me with a prophetic word. Yet Scripture is filled with promises to me, as a believer, from my Father:

I will never leave or forsake you.
I will provide for you.
I will complete the work I began in you.
In Me you will have fullness of joy.
I will accomplish what concerns you.
I will enable you to complete the good work that I have laid out for you.
I'm coming back.

And those are just what I can think of off the top of my head. Promise after promise of provision, power, and His presence fill the pages of my Bible. Like Mary (who was asked to do a far harder task than any I will probably face), I need to choose to believe what was spoken to me by the Lord.

Lean on Me

Why do I believe so many lies about God? Reading in Psalm 50 today revealed yet another misconception that I hold about the Lord. Verses 14-15 say:

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.

When faced with difficulties, I do tend to pray and ask the Lord for help--I am doing the right thing. However, in the back of my mind is the idea that He is frustrated, impatient, or even annoyed with me about all of the times that I call on Him. Surely I'm supposed to have figured this out by now. Surely this circumstance is not that big a deal to anyone else. Surely I can figure it out on my own.

However, verse fifteen tells me to call on the Lord so that He can deliver me and so that I may glorify Him. He wants me to call on Him. I'm supposed to be dependent on Him. It's part of the plan that I come to Him with everything, big and small. He may not swoop in and remove all of the obstacles--He may deliver me in small steps as I obey Him little by little--but my turning to Him glorifies Him. Glorifying the Lord is high on my list of what I want to do with my life, so I purpose to heed the psalmist and call on the Lord frequently and first, and without fear of His reaction.