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Something unexpected happened last evening.. while waiting for the bus in a secluded part of downtown in front of the post office, not 1 or 2, BUT 10 buses bypassed me (2 were not heading to my intended destination, 8 just refused to stop despite my frantic waving).. so I ended up waiting for 40 minutes alone in the middle of nowhere before deciding to hop into a taxi. I was 30 minutes late for prayer meeting. Nevertheless, the thought which came was that I can choose to lose my temper, or even to give thanks in all circumstances.. and it sets the tone for tonight's sharing during prayer meeting.
Ethan told me about his many postgraduate scholarship applications being rejected, despite him being a top 1st class honours student and ex-national vice president of a powerful international organisation. In such a case, he exceeded the requirements and is a qualified leader, what else would the scholarship committee want? But it helped him to organise his finances to live within his means, and to see with thanksgiving that if God had granted him the scholarship, would he be able to remain humble and faithful? If something good can help fulfil your needs, then there is no reason for our Heavenly father to withhold it, since his resources are unlimited.
Luke 17:11-19 - Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Lepers, being people with skin disease at that time, are a group of people who were isolated from society, they can be seen living together among themselves in a seemingly hopeless situation, but they view each other as being in an equal position. Today in a church, we are a melting pot consisting of various kinds of people (different growth stages and maturity, different styles of doing things), but our position in God is the same, we are in the same boat, and should not despise / compare one another.
If you have a chronic illness which leads you to a point of desperation, won't you run towards somebody who can help you? The lepers did, as a group in fact, carrying not only physical deformities from their disease, but also the emotional wound of being unable to live normal lives among the mainstream society. They were united in 1 voice to cry out for help. When people have serious needs, and realise their own lackings, they tend to be more willing to listen and obey the person offering help. Prayer without obedience is useless. However, many times we only come before God when we have needs, often we forget about Him when things are going on smoothly. When we don't get what we ask for, we accuse God of being unfair / unreal. In such a case, God being a God who answers prayers, probably already has.
After being healed, where did 9 out of 10 lepers go? Maybe they were enjoying their newfound freedom, or sharing the excitement with their loved ones.. whatever the case, only a single leper sees the priority to seize the opportunity to come back and praise Jesus. When we accomplish something, let us not sit on the success, but be quick to give all the glory to God, otherwise there is a tendency to think that we ourselves deserve credit for the achievement.
In conclusion, the biggest miracle is not what the eyes can see - performing magic acts, or raising the dead to life. The greatest miracles are found in each person, when one life impacts another - a reason for all the angels in heaven to rejoice.
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