alone

Let the well alone

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

Read: Genesis 25-26, Matthew 9:1-17

Every year on Christmas Eve, my mother and I watch White Christmas. We’ve seen it so many times that we can pretty much quote the entire movie and sing along to every musical number, which is why today’s reading reminded me of a song from this classic film.

I know of a doctor

Sad to say, one day he fell
Right into a great big well

He should have attended to the sick
And let the well alone

The Minstrel Show

Like the song, it’s sad to say, but many Christians have unknowingly found themselves at the bottom of a deep pit. Instead of attending to the sick, they stayed too close to the well.

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 9:12-13 (NIV)

In 2005, John Burke published a book called No Perfect People Allowed. Since then, many churches, including my own, have adopted and promoted this phrase. In no way are we discounting that, though Jesus’ sacrifice, we are being made perfect, but we are tending to the spiritually sick by letting them know that they are welcome as they are. For too long, the church in general has acted like a quarantine for the spiritually “healthy”. And, in doing so, we have become just like the Pharisees who scorned Jesus for breaking bread with the tax collectors and sinners.

C.T. Studd

If we want to avoid the bottom of the well, we need to stay away from it. Though we need the fellowship of other believers, we are not called to close our ranks, but rather to go out and find those who most need what we have. Like Jesus, we are the doctors and nurses who need to go out onto the battlefield and pull in those who are sick and dying. It’s time for us to attend to the sick and let the well alone to do the same.

It’s tough

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In 1992, four and a half year old Jordy became the youngest person ever to make it on to Billboard’s Hot 100 with his dance hit, Dur dur d’être bébé. Loosely translated, It’s tough to be a baby, the song described the trials of being a toddler. Don’t touch this. Don’t touch that. Get your finger out of your nose. Sit still.

We all know that being a baby isn’t as rough as Jordy described. All a baby has to do is cry a bit and Mommy or Daddy come running to change their clothes, feed them, bathe them, cuddle them. While there are a lot of rules to learn as a child grows up, never again in their life will they have so much done for them.

Sometimes, we can be like a baby trying to convince the world how tough it is to be us. But you just don’t know what I’m going through. I feel like I’m the only one! While I don’t want to belittle anyone’s pain or suffering, you’re not the only one.

Take a firm stand against [the Devil], and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

1 Peter 5:9 (NLT)

There are times when we can get so caught up in our own pain and search for sympathy that we completely ignore the fact that we have family members that are going through the very same thing. They could use some of that comfort we’re trying so hard to find. And when we, like an infant, cry out for satisfaction, those same people look on and shake their heads. We are never alone in our pain and we are not the only ones deserving of compassion. Not only that, but God has already poured out on us all that we need.

In his kindness, God called you to his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

1 Peter 5:10 (NLT)

When we look at our suffering—no matter what it is—in the light of what Jesus already endured, it pales in comparison. None of us are ever alone in our suffering. All over the world there are Christians who also endure hurt, pain, suffering, and persecution. Instead of seeking out sympathy, perhaps we would be better off giving it and sharing in each other’s suffering, helping each other through our trials until such a time as God restores, supports, and strengthen us.

It doesn’t have to be tough.

Daily Bible reading: Ezekiel 40, 1 Peter 5

Defender

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I’m not a hermit. Sometimes I wish I was. Because, if I were a hermit, it would mean that I wouldn’t have to deal with people. Let’s face it, sometimes people aren’t the most fun to deal with. But what is life without them?

I mess up. A lot. My neurological makeup is such that I miss out on a lot of social cues and conversational intricacies. As a result, I have been told I often say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Or I’ll say the right thing in the wrong way. Or I say nothing at all and come across as a complete jerk. More often than not, I don’t even know I’ve done it unless someone close to me points it out.

Neurological atypicalities aside, I often find myself alone. Close friends have been difficult to come by and even family isn’t always aware or understanding of my abnormalities. I feel alone.

That’s why this verse in Job stood out to me today.

You must defend my innocence, O God, since no one else will stand up for me.

Job 17:3 (NLT)

So what does it mean for God to defend me, stand up for me?

The Lord is for me, so I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me
It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in people.

Psalm 118:6-8 (NLT)

Even in my dark places, when I feel completely alone, God is still there. With me.

Even though I may feel like the entire world is against me, God is still there. For me.

If I am wrong, He will forgive me. If I am innocent, He will defend me.

Though the words and actions of people around me may hurt, they can have no eternal effect on my spirit. Those people and their words cannot take God, my defender, from me.

People have always failed and will always fail. But the Lord will not. In those times when we struggle in our relationships, we can put our trust in God knowing that He will remain sure even when everything else may not.

He is for me; He will help me.

Daily Bible reading: Job 16-18, Acts 9:1-22

Alone

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I like to be alone. In fact, in order to stay functional, I need to be alone. Often and for long periods of time. I tend to resent anyone who may disturb the time I’ve set aside for myself.

Jesus had moments where He needed to be alone. But once His ministry was in full swing, those moments seemed to disappear altogether.

As soon as Jesus heard the news, he went off by himself in a boat to  a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where was was headed and followed by land from many villages.

Matthew 14:13 (NLT)

First of all, let’s back up. The reason that Jesus wanted to be alone was because He had just heard news of John the Baptist’s—his cousin—death. He was grieving.

I get annoyed on any given day when I want to be alone and am interrupted. I can’t imagine trying to mourn a close family member being followed by thousands of people. I have a feeling my response to those followers would be less than gracious.

A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Matthew 14:14 (NLT)

Not only did Jesus set aside His own wants and grief, but in a moment when He could have used some compassion, He had compassion on all of those who interrupted His mourning. If you keep reading, you’ll discover that this was the same moment where Jesus fed the thousands with just five loaves and two fish.

I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to graciously give up my alone time, but Jesus’ example makes me think I should try. My grief and need for solitude could perhaps be the moment that God most wants to use for the miraculous.

Daily Bible reading: Genesis 44-45, Matthew 14:1-21

Forsake

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“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mark 15:34b (ESV)

As Easter draws near, many people around the world are made more aware of the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus, the death and resurrection being the main focus. And so they should be. Without either, our faith is nothing but an empty shell.

In reading this verse again, I began to think of what the cross really meant, not for us, but for Jesus. As he was held to wooden beams with thick, heavy nails driven through his flesh and bones, he not only experienced unbearable physical pain, but, as he cried out, he felt the pain of abandonment.

What does it really mean to be forsaken?

To quit or leave entirely; to desert; to abandon; to depart from.

To abandon; to renounce; to reject.

To leave; to withdraw from; to fail.

In scripture, God forsakes his people, when he withdraws his aid, or the light of his countenance.

How would it have felt to know that your father, The Unfailing God, failed you? To know the one who would never leave has left?

Jesus felt on the cross what no other human being in history ever felt – to be completely and utterly forsaken. Never once before or since has anyone ever been so thoroughly separated from the rest of the world. And never before or since was there anyone less deserving to have endured what Jesus endured.

Next time you feel alone, left out, abandoned, remind yourself that you are not alone. You are not left out. You are not abandoned. Jesus endured it all so we would never have to.

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 28, Mark 15:27-47