Lifting of Love

I have heard people many times say, "I just keep getting knocked down."  They feel like just as they are making progress in life, something happens, causing them to take two steps backward. They feel as though they can never get ahead, and that can be very frustrating. This happens to everyone at least once in their life, but thankfully we have God to help and lift us back up when we feel we're knocked down.

In Mark 9:1-29, we read how Jesus helped a boy who also got knocked down several times, but Satan caused his condition. The story is as Jesus, Peter, James, and John came unto the other disciples, they saw a large crowd of people around them and some scribes arguing with them. As this crowd saw Jesus, they ran up to Him, and Jesus asked them what they were discussing, and a man answered, " Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and stiffens out. And I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it." Jesus then said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? Bring him to Me!" When Jesus saw the boy before Him, the Bible says the spirit immediately started throwing him into convulsions onto the ground, causing him to roll around foaming at the mouth. Jesus then asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" The father answered, "From childhood, and it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him, but if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" Jesus then said to this father, who was obviously at his wit's end, "If You can! All things are possible to him who believes," and the father immediately cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief!"

At this point, Jesus noticed a large crowd was starting to gather around them, so He rebuked the unclean spirit by saying, "You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again." The spirit started crying out, throwing the boy into what the Bible says were terrible convulsions, and it then came out. The boy afterward was lying, so still, he looked as though he were dead to the people standing by. Though knowing better, Jesus went up to the boy, took him by the hand and raised him; and this boy sat up.

After reading this story, it's hard to imagine ever saying again, "I just keep getting knocked down." Imagine the torment this boy went through not only physically but mentally as well. Imagine also the torture his father felt as he watched his son in so much torment and being a danger to himself and possibly others. To see your child taken over by something that is trying to destroy them must be incredibly difficult. I believe that is why he so honestly said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." He must have had many mixed emotions and most likely had those for a long time.

Jesus rebuked that unclean spirit and then lifted this boy – up off the ground to enjoy his new life. It's interesting that the Bible says most of the people thought he was dead. Imagine if you saw someone so out of control physically and then so still and calm. Most likely, you would react and feel the same way. Then picture Jesus looking at the boy everyone thought was dead, reaching down and lifting him by his hand – what an act of love that had to have been to watch.

This story is amazing and a great reminder that all things are possible to those who believe. It also shows us the love and compassion at the center of Christ's heart and mission. To picture not only Jesus casting out this spirit would be one thing, but to see the love Jesus demonstrated by extending His hand to this boy for me would be life-changing. I'm sure for them it was as well life-changing, especially for that father. I imagine there had to have been many hugs and thank -you's going on that day.  

Jesus was not only there for the boy that day, but He is also there for each one of us and is extending His hand – we have to be willing to take it. We have to be willing to let Him pick and lift us up from the ground and let Him be the driving force in our lives. Even though there will be those days when we wonder what is going on and if we can make it or not, we have to know that He will never leave us and that He will always be there when we need Him.

Today, if you feel as if you keep getting knocked down and becoming exhausted from it all, let it all go. Let all your fears, struggles, anxiety be removed from your life, and let God take control of your life. Let Him give you His love, strength, peace, grace, mercy, and joy in exchange for all those emotions that are not from God. Let His love be the most influential thing in your life. If you will, that is when you will arise from that ground; you feel that you are on and will be set free from all that is troubling you. He is the great comforter, and most of all, He is a God of love. He is a God that truly loves you, and like He helped this boy, He will help you with all that you need – because His love for you is why He died in the first place. So trust in Him, trust that His love will carry you through anything, and let His love finally be fully released in your life.

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns