Rebuking of Love

My youngest child is one who absolutely believes in the power of prayer and practices it for everything. He believes when He prays, God will answer and even expects Him to answer. This is evident in many areas of his life, especially when he is sick. Oftentimes when he isn't feeling well, he will say, "Mom, will you please pray for me – pray that my headache will go away. "(Or whatever it is that is hurting him) He is very specific with his asking and what is amazing to see and adds to his faith is that God always answers him and pretty much answers him right away. As a parent, I sigh with relief when his need is met, because I see that my child is totally dependent on God answering his specific prayer and answering it right away. 

 Luke 4:38-39 is only two verses but has a lot to teach us. The verses say that Jesus had left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Simon's mother-in-law was there suffering from a high fever, so they had Jesus look at her. When He did, He stood over her, rebuking the fever, and it left her immediately. She then got up and started to serve them.

This story reminds me of my youngest child. Like I stated earlier, when we pray, we pray specifically, and that is when we see God in action. Jesus could have gone to this woman and said something like, "I hope you get to feeling better soon," and yet He didn't. He dealt with the issue at hand, and that is when it left her. There was no fancy long, magnificent prayer involved, just Him rebuking what was causing her to be in bed. At that moment, the fever completely left her, so she got up, and I imagine, cleaned herself up a bit and gave back. She stood up and served her Lord – the one who had taken her issue away.  

Imagine Jesus walking into the room that day. People had to have been very concerned about her, and yet Jesus walks in, stands over her, and simply rebukes the fever, and it left – just like that. For me, I'm one who prays very specifically, not in generalities. I believe that's how we are to pray and is when we see things happen as to how we have prayed. Jesus sets the example here of how to handle situations, and that is by praying and praying specifically. God will often heal us from things even in front of others, and I wonder if we appreciate it or not, or if we take it for granted? Out of her love and appreciation for who had given her health back, this woman did not take it for granted, didn't even hesitate to serve others. She could have said, "Thank you for taking this fever away, and now I'm just going to rest here, for you know I'm so tired. After all, having such a high fever can really wear one out." No, instead, she instantly got up, and the keyword here is that she served. For us, we are to react in the same way. Whatever God has set us free from, we are to rise quickly and serve others and God. By serving others, we are also serving Him- serving Him out of appreciation for what He has done for us.

Jesus that day showed great love for this woman and yet great calmness and authority regarding that fever. Jesus did this not only out of His love for this woman but also out of the love He had for those who were related to her. He went into the house that day, healed her, and in the end, was served by the very same woman He healed. I bet He looked down at her in that bed and smile and was thankful that He could help her. All of this out of the love He had for her – the kind of love that says, "I rebuke what has come against you and is trying to keep you down and disabled. The thing that has a hold on you. I love you so much that I'm going to rebuke that sickness or addiction and come against it with authority in the name of Jesus." What great love not only He had for her that day, but the same is true for each of us today as well. This is a great and touching story to learn from and teaches us how to react when God does things for us. We are to remember it is because of God's love He does things for us, and it should be out of our love and appreciation for Him that we rise and serve Him in any way that we can. Again, just as my son always prays very specifically for things, we should pray and expect that our prayers will be answered

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns