By James Wilson
I
received a wonderful e-mail from a colleague of mine a few days ago. The last time I saw her was at a church
convention; she asked me to pray for both feet and one knee as she was having
chronic pain in each location. She
experienced relief in her feet at once; the knee less so, but coming along. I found myself telling her to tell Abba God
she receives her healing each day as the enemy of all life tries to steal it by
introducing doubt into the process of progressive healing. I say “found myself” because this is not
something I typically pray or say. Yet
our God has a habit of getting glory for Himself whenever we obey His promptings
– even when stepping outside our comfort zone to do it. My friend announces her feet felt better each
day until now fully healed. The knee is
still proceeding.
The
span from January 6 to the first (movable) day of Lent is traditionally known
as Epiphany season. The Greek word means
to manifest or materialize in practical reality. The events associated with this season in
Christ are the visit from the Wise Men, Jesus’ baptism, and the Wedding at
Cana. In each case God does something
big-time to announce Himself but the irreducible human element is obedience
against a preposterous backdrop.
For
example, pagan astrologers follow a moving star hundreds of miles – on
instructions from a God they do not recognize – to a stable where they
instinctively recognize the Son of the Father.
They receive the revelation only after obeying the “totally out there”
instruction, and their next obedience – avoiding Herod – saves their lives and
the Baby. In another instance Jesus’ cousin John is asked to baptize One he
knows outranks him in the heavenly hierarchy by a factor of infinity. John demurs until Jesus personalizes the
request to “fulfil all righteousness.”
When John obeys the heavens open and the voice of God is heard. Finally
we find Jesus attending a wedding – nothing wrong with that – but hardly the
setting for a grand manifestation of power.
He even declares it – when asked – to be neither the time nor the place;
yet His mother instructs the servants to do whatever He commands. When they obey by presenting Him with
thirty-gallon jugs of water He transforms water into wine. By the way, this is not ordinary wine, but
the best they have ever tasted. Only
those guests who have obeyed long standing commandments from God to avoid
drunken-ness are sober enough to recognize and enjoy what has been held until
the end of the feast.
Obedience
to God is not complex, just nerve-wrackingly outside the box. It requires suspension of judgment. It calls us to evaluate circumstances through
the God we know rather than judging Him through our circumstances. It commands response to a counter-intuitive
directive. (You want me to what?) But what have we to lose; are we doing so
well on our own? Our democratically produced
efforts give us riots and assassinated cops, an economic system in continued
disease, a lawless government, and the crises and disintegrations within our
own families. Our God promises to teach
us plainly and on the spot (Matthew 10 and Luke 21) what to do and say; we need
only obey clearly understood directives.
What have we really got to lose by letting Him work in us?
And
what may we gain when we say, “Go ahead, Lord, manifest yourself in response to
my obedience?”
Diana
and I celebrated our anniversary at Disneyland a couple of weeks back. I planned a late flight home so we could
spend our last day on impulse, but the flight was repeatedly postponed;
arriving home at two in the morning after a long drive from Sacramento was
downright dangerous at my age. I followed
my own advice and thanked God for His blessing before I had any clue what that
blessing might be – that is the essence of a Eucharistic/Thanks-filled heart. Having given thanks I heard and obeyed His
word to check in early even though expecting a four hour wait at the airport.
Having checked in we were given a much earlier flight – at no charge because
ours was delayed. We arrived home before
Midnight and I got to introduce a Buddhist man to the Lord because I “happened
to be” in line one space ahead of him for that earlier flight. We had a wonderful time and God manifested
Himself – not because of our obedience but through it.
A
blessed Epiphany to those who know God and to those who need to meet Him.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living
As Ambassadors of Relationships and The
Holy Spirit and the End Times – available at local bookstores or by
e-mailing him at
praynorthstate@charter.net
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