Luke chapter 5

Read through Luke chapter 5 and read below when you are done.

(If you stumble upon a verse or section you don’t understand try looking at the "Enduring Word Bible Commentary"

Link: https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/luke-5/

Verse 12-13:

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

I found it really interesting when the man covered in leprosy asks Jesus to heal him, "IF he was willing," and Jesus responds saying he IS willing.

I think a lot of the time we walk around with the idea that there are only a certain amount of things we could ask God for because 1) we don’t deserve it and 2) we feel like he'll get tired of us. Well, those two claims are incorrect, and here's what the Bible has to say about them:

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:11)

God WANTS to bless us; he WANTS to heal us; he WANTS to deliver us, and he WANTS us to come to him for anything and everything we need. He is our gracious father, and he has NO limits. Often, we are the ones who place limits on God, but we need to remember that he is the God of the impossible. If he split seas, ate with sinners, performed miracles, and forgave back then, he is capable and willing to do it now. His faithfulness endures through generations, and his goodness still carries out to this very day.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

He cares for you. There are no exceptions. No if's, but's, or why's. He cares for YOU, and there is nothing that could ever change that.

reflection for this section:

- What are some of the areas in which you have trouble believing God's desire to help you?

- Are there any limits you are placing on God?

- What worries do you need to cast on God?

Verse 30- 32

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The morning after I read this scripture, I recognized that the season of disappointment I faced a few months ago was crucial to my life. As my high school experience was coming to an end, I entered a season of disappointment. I had been rejected from my dream school, relationships I now realize I idolized had been lost, and I began battling with my mental health. To anyone with more experience in life, this may not seem like a big deal, but at the time, this season represented a loss of the hopes and dreams I had held on to for so long. I believed that this season was a punishment for lack of faithfulness or simply because I didn’t deserve good things. (Basically, I was believing lies that completely contradicted the truth of the Gospel).

A few weeks ago, a guest preacher came to my church and preached about seeing God's goodness and faithfulness in times of adversity. He said that if we didn't have a need, we didn't need a miracle. Long story short, being in a time of adversity/need sets us in a position to witness a miracle in our lives.

Jesus tells us that he comes to those IN NEED. This does not mean he forgets about us when we're well off, but there's something so special about Jesus meeting us in our weakness.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

His power works best in our weakness, in our solitude. It's like we seek Him better when we have nothing else to turn to. It sucks to think about it that way, but the truth is that time after time when we fall apart, He is the only one who can put us back together.

If I hadn't been in a season of adversity, if I would've gotten everything I wanted, I wouldn't have drawn close to Him. I wouldn't have recognized that I had nowhere else to run, nobody else to depend on. The time I spent with the healer was making me sensitive to Him, sensitive to His voice, and His spirit. I hope one day I will be able to do it all the time, but I admit that I seek Him better when I'm hurt and my heart is broken. God knew that as I was stepping into a new season of life, I was going to have to discern a lot of things. I was going to need that sensitivity to make the right decisions in a time where my emotions were controlling my reactions and behavior.

I pray that in the hard seasons, you will remember that our God desires for you to come to Him in these moments. The hard seasons aren't always correction, but rather protection. Maybe your heavenly father is trying to get your attention, maybe He's molding and preparing you for the next season of life, a new level of ministry, or is simply trying to draw near to you.