Matthew 20:29-34
Be still: Lord, as I make space for you today, would you bring stillness to my heart and mind and prepare my soul to hear a fresh word from you today. Amen
Read: Matthew 20:29-34
The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’ (v31)
Encounter: Sometimes a song comes along that captures the deepest prayers from countless hearts. Last summer, Rich and Lydia Dicas released Don’t Pass Me By, a song beautifully describing the confusing space between brokenness and breakthrough that many of us experience, where tears are shed, prayers are yelled, and it seems God is absent.
This passage introduces two blind men who knew this kind of pain first-hand. For them, just like us, the space between their brokenness and breakthrough wasn’t a theological quandary, but a bleak and daily reality. How long had they sat on the roadside thinking, 'Has God forgotten us?' Suddenly they are reminded in the most profound way that their God hadn’t forgotten them – they hear that Jesus is about to pass by. You can imagine their nervous excitement – now is their chance! They begin to shout but the crowd tells them to pipe down. That doesn’t stop them; the crowd’s efforts to quash their spirits backfires and they shout louder.
The two nameless men are in the same position as many of us – they sense the closeness of Christ, but the immediate outcome is uncertain. Between their brokenness and the breakthrough, they refuse to stay silent. For us, the crowd of voices is more likely inside us: unanswered prayers and a sense of God’s absence tempting unbelief.
However, I refuse to allow times of disappointment to shape my expectation of God and I want to encourage you to do the same. I will keep shouting for the healing of others and my own healing until Jesus says to me, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ and I know the moment of breakthrough has come.
Apply: Draw someone to mind who is contending for breakthrough for healing – it could be physical, mental or emotional. Bring them before God in prayer and contend for them.
Devote: Lord, thank you that you hear our prayers and are never far from any one of us. Give your comfort to all who are between their brokenness and the breakthrough. Provide us with fresh courage to believe again.