The Stretching of Obedience

To be in the middle of controversy is something that makes me very nervous and to be in it while in front of a crowd is even worse. It is also hard for me when some oppose me even when I know I am right. What I need to remember is that if I conduct myself in a Godly way that is all that matters. God himself will handle the rest for me when I am in that controversial moment and am nervous.

In Mark 3:1-6 there is a story about a man who also was in a controversial moment regarding his hand being healed. The healing was controversial because of the day it took place which was the Sabbath. The passage says that one day when Jesus had entered the Synagogue He saw a man with a withered hand, also inside the Synagogue were Pharisees watching to see if Jesus would heal this man or not given the day it was. Jesus looked at the man and in front of everyone told him to “Rise and come forward!” and the man obeyed. Jesus then asked the crowd “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” and no one had an answer. Jesus then became grieved and angry because of the hardness of their hearts and He said to the man who was then standing in front of everyone “Stretch out your hand” and when he did, he saw that it was healed and restored. The Pharisees immediately went out and started to take counsel with the Herodians as to how they might destroy Jesus because of what had happened.

This story is more than just about this man's hand being healed and even more than about whether Jesus should have healed on the Sabbath or not. It is about obedience in the middle of what could have been looked at as controversial. Go back for a minute and think about this man and what happened, how he was in the Synagogue minding his own business on the Sabbath and in walks Jesus, and immediately people began to wonder whether he would heal him. This man however who needed the healing did not approach Jesus to be healed. It was Jesus himself who tells him to rise and come forward and to do it in front of everyone and by his obedience, Jesus used him as an example. I believe this man knew that when Jesus called him to come forward that day there was a chance that he was going to heal him. He also knew what a controversy it could be and yet came forward anyway stretching out not only his hand, but also his obedience and did it in front of everyone and that is when he was healed. For at that moment it wasn’t about what “Everyone" thought was right or wrong, but it was about being obedient to Jesus, and because of that his hand was restored and restored in a controversial moment.

There are going to be those times- most likely several times in our life where coming forward in obedience is going to “Stretch" us and it may be in front of others and may seem controversial to some. It may cause others to oppose us or God's instructions, but we are to be obedient and not concern ourselves with what others think or say. We must remember we are accountable to God first and being obedient to Him is what we must do when it stretches us, because in the end that is when God is glorified and it's for all to see. At that moment when God asks us to rise and come forward, we like that man will have only a second to decide as to what we will do, for either way will change our lives forever. For if we choose to obey, we will have to ignore the crowds, stretch ourselves out there and see what God does through us and that's when restoration, healing, and even miracles take place all out of our obedience. On the other hand, if we choose not to obey then we will be left wondering what we could have had and experienced if we had chosen to obey- all this has to be decided in one second. That second to either stretch ourselves out there in front of others or not- that stretching that is of obedience.

From Gardens of Obedience by Gina Burns