Luke 4:38-44

Be Still:  Help me, Lord, to focus on you for a short while. Show me what you want me to hear and act upon. Amen

Read: Luke 4:38-44

… and they appealed to him on her behalf….all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him ....And the people sought him….and would have kept him from leaving them (from vv38-42).

Encounter: Three short paragraphs, three separate incidents. Each one features a group of unknown people. Firstly, there were people who appealed to Jesus to heal Simon’s mother-in-law; he responded to their appeals and prayers. Then others brought their sick friends and family to Jesus and ‘every one of them’ was healed. This would never have happened if the sick had been left to their own devices. 

In contrast, the third group in verse 42 were unsuccessful in persuading Jesus to stay - he had a bigger perspective and could see beyond their local priorities.

Billy Graham became a worldwide evangelist, preaching to millions over decades. But without two insignificant individuals he might never have given his life to the Lord. A man, who worked on the Graham family’s dairy farm, badgered a young reluctant Billy to attend a tent revival meeting and offered to drive the truck to take him there. An unknown usher chased after Billy when he was leaving because there were no seats and found him somewhere to sit. Billy was the only person to respond to an altar call and the preacher later wrote that these meetings were a failure because only one 16-year-old boy responded.

Apply:  Don’t despise little things. Keep on plugging away, even when no one sees it and it seems to be having little effect. Don’t give up when God has a better way of doing things than you can currently see. God can take our little actions, words, empathy and good deeds, and use them in an amazing way. One day we might discover that we have been more effective for God than we had ever realised - ‘as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:40). Please don’t think that you have nothing to offer - none of us is insignificant to our father God.

Devote: Thank you, Lord, for seeing me and hearing me. Guide me and use me, even in small ways, to care for others and to help extend your kingdom here on earth.