“And then Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, and he was healed” (Matthew 8:3).
“Take the very hardest thing in your life – the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot. Just there He can bring your soul into blossom!” (Lilias Trotter, Parables of the Cross, as retrieved from https://liliastrotter.com/quotes/).
We all have sore spots. They may be truly physical in nature, or in our souls and spirits. Certainly, life never is a one hundred percent kind or even fair. So, as we go on life, we either grudgingly accept our fate in life or, worse, we decide to hide our soreness in deep places where we pretend that they do not exist. Deep we often bury them, afraid that even God cannot reach out and heal our hurt.
Sometimes, in the seclusion of our hearts, and when dark shadows loom over our souls, like a scary Jack-in-the-Box, the full dimension of our hurt pops into our consciousness. My question is what are you going to do? Push back the hurt back into a box, hoping that it may never reappear again? Or dare to bring it to our Savior’s attention.
I wonder what others may have thought about the sick man as he approached Jesus. For sure some doubted if even Jesus would be willing to deal with the man’s plight. Even the man doubted that a God so busy taking care of the universe would give him the time of day. But there is no doubt in our Lord’s answer – “For sure I will! And then Jesus reached out his and touched him.”
Jesus’ will is to restore Creation – including you and your hurts. And He is willing to extend His hand and reach out even to the untouchable. Let the Lord’s hand touch even the most tender part of your hurt and let Him take care of you. For it is His will that you may blossom again.
"Helping Hand," Acrylic on Canvas by Arne Johansen, 2019
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