Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And the man sprang up and began to walk.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, February 3, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Do we need faith to be healed? I’m skeptical of the idea that there’s a certain amount of faith, or a tipping point of prayer, at which God decides to step in and cure us from our physical or mental ailments. People of great faith get cancer. Children die even when multiple congregations full of people are praying for them. God is in the midst of it all, but I reject the belief that if the worst happens, it’s because of a failure on someone’s part to placate God.
Leaving aside medical ailments, though, I will say wholeheartedly from experience that we, individually, have a role to play in our spiritual ailment. The only real spiritual ailment is separation from God—that lack of connection that sneaks in and leaves us feeling that something is missing from our lives, that whispers the lies that life is meaningless, that nothing we do matters, that we are in some way broken and irredeemable. It’s not God’s fault—God never pulls away, never leaves us. It’s not necessarily our fault either—we are constantly pushed and pulled by circumstances which are often beyond our control. Rather than assign blame, I would extend an invitation, just as God does every moment. Stop. Pray. Meditate. Connect. Let go. Acknowledge that you don’t have to run the universe yourself—that God is in charge. Open your mind and heart to the profound beauty of creation. Recognize that God’s call to self-care and to love and service of others is the meaning of life, and if we start there, and keep that in focus, we are much more able to engage fully, and less likely to be pulled into despair.
Nothing is foolproof. Simple isn’t easy. But God so adores you and wants to be in close relationship with you each and every day.
How will I accept God’s invitation to fully engage with God and life?
