“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” —Matthew 10:8
Can you believe Jesus told his motley crew of illiterate, subsistence fishermen and tradesman to do the same things he amazed everyone by doing? They probably couldn’t believe he was telling them to do it. I can practically hear their protests. “What? Us? We can’t raise the dead, heal lepers, or expel demons!” I wonder how Jesus responded to their protests. After all, he always had more confidence in them than they had in themselves.
What is today’s version of what Jesus asks us, his friends and disciples, to do that might seem like a huge stretch for us? Find a reason to live again after a loved one’s death? Work to put a broken marriage back together? Fight to get the medical and educational help that your special-needs child has? Invite an estranged family member back into your life? Whatever it is that Jesus is asking of us, let’s not forget that first, he has given us the gifts we need to do it. Just like with the disciples, he wants us to know we have more ability than we might imagine, and he wants us to use our gifts for the betterment of the world.
For action: What healing work can you do today that might seem like a stretch but is within your power because God has given you the ability to do it? Ask God for courage, then start.