Recognizing God

How noticeable is God? Do we always see Him when He's working and moving around us? How much of what God does around us goes un-noticed? How often do look right past the "God-Stuff" that is right in front of us? This week finds us in-between teaching series at The Mix so this week's discussion falls into our "One Hit Wonder" category...a stand alone discussion. And it all has to do with 'Recognizing God'.

There's an interesting story told to us in scripture about an encounter Jesus had with 10 men who had leprosy. You can check out the story here. The interesting thing about this story is the way the Jesus responded to the circumstances of the men and they way they responded back. If you read the story, you know that Jesus healed them all of this dreaded disease. You also know that they all got pretty excited because Jesus had intervened in their circumstance. You also know that after the fact, 9 went about their way while 1 came back and "threw himself at Jesus feet and thanked Him" (Luke 17:16). There's some interesting things I think we need to recognize about this whole situation...

First...They all got healed. They came to Jesus with a particular need and Jesus met that need in every one of them. They all got what they wanted...they all got to experience Jesus...even the ones that did not return to thank Him. I don't believe that Jesus, having noticed that the other 9 didn't return, re-nigged on His healing! "Psyche!!! Just kiddin! You guys aren't thankful enough so I'm going to take it back!" No--they all got healed...they all experienced Jesus. The end result of their physical circumstance was the same. Interesting that Jesus had a level of experience for the general populace, regardless of their response to Him...

Second...The Bible specifically points out that the one who returned to thank Jesus was a "Samaritan" and a "foreigner". The Samaritans were second class citizens to the Jews (and of course Jesus was a Jew). Jews wouldn't even walk on Samaritan soil, let alone interact with them. They were the epitome of "vile-ness" because their ancestry was not purely Jewish and that was absolutely unacceptable to the Jews. And yet, the Bible specifically recognizes the fact that this man...the one who returned...was NOT a Jew but was a Samaritan. Why? Why does the Bible point this out? Of course, God wants us to know that His love is open to everyone. But I think there may even be a deeper meaning here. You see not only did the Jews hate the Samaritans, the Samaritans knew it. They knew they weren't accepted or viewed as equals by the Jews. And therefore, there was no sense of entitlement that this man felt that he "deserved" to be healed by Jesus. Sometimes, we can confuse believing in faith for God to move and act in our lives with a type of spiritual arrogance or entitlement. The only way we are "entitled" to anything God might make available to us is because of our relationship with Jesus and that alone. We are not entitled to anything...Jesus is. And because we know Him, we are blessed with the fringe benefits of that relationship. God "owes" you and I nothing. Anything He chooses to bestow on us is purely out of His grace and mercy on us...and for that, we should be very, very thankful. When we recognize that there's nothing we can do to deserve God, we stand a much better chance of recognizing when God moves and acts in our lives...and being very thankful.

But maybe the most important issue we need to soak in from this account is this: There's usually a deeper level of experience for those who recognize what God is doing around them. You see, this man recognized God at work. And because of it, he had a much deeper level of intimacy with Jesus and he received a deeper blessing than the other 9. Notice that in Luke 17:19, Jesus announced that this one man that came back to worship Him was made "well". Remember, he was already healed of his leprosy...as were the other 9. Jesus was not referring to the superficial circumstances of his leprosy, even as serious as it was. Jesus was basically helping this man to understand that there is a deeper level of "wellness" than his physical well-being...which is what the man initially asked for and thought he needed most. God is willing (and actually desires) to move us to being "well" in our souls and our spirits. This is primarily eternal life through salvation in Christ, but its so much more than that. God wants to help us become "well" in our souls...to think beyond our immediate circumstances and realize that God wants to touch every part of who we are. If we get good at recognizing God and what He is doing around us, we might have the opportunity to go beyond just having God change our circumstances. He might actually make us "well" at every level.

Maybe a good start to moving towards "well" is the realization that we should want to please God, not just get what we ask for from Him. I don't about you, but I want to get better at noticing God at work around me. I want to be "well".

Thanks for reading!

-Bob