WATCHWORD:
1 Several days later he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn’t room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them. 3 Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. 4 They couldn’t get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, right down in front of Jesus. 5 When Jesus saw how strongly they believed that he would help, Jesus said to the sick man, “Son, your sins are forgiven!” 6 Some of the Jewish religious leaders said to themselves, 7 “What? This is blasphemy! Does he think he is God? For only God can forgive sins.”
11 Then, turning to the paralyzed man, Jesus commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!” 12 The man jumped up, took the stretcher, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers! Then how they praised God. Mark 2:1-7, 11-12
Meditation:
Mysteries and Miracles
Several years ago I spent extended periods volunteering at Heifer International Visitor Center on the Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas. We hosted visitors coming to this great facility, offer coffee, talk to them about Heifer, take them on extended tours of the ranch, seeing all the various animals that live here. On a typical spring and summer week we would have over 200 visitors, except when the yellow school busses filled our parking lot to take advantage of the educational programming we provided. We often had up to 500 kids in several different venues! What fun we had!
The Visitor Center was also a favorite hangout for all of the livestock and education volunteers who would come in and visit with us, have a cup of coffee, and then spend a few minutes looking at the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that we always had going to entertain and to pass the time. A jigsaw puzzle, a coherent picture all cut into tiny little pieces, always a challenge first to start, then to take it to completion.
I was thinking about that puzzle as I considered mysteries and miracles that seem to surround us. I think about the developments that have improved our lives, just in our lifetime. Television, iPhones, the microwave oven, countless medical advances, on and on. Each one a kind of miracle within our own understanding. You don’t have to understand the internal combustion engine, to get in the car and drive to your next destination. You don’t have to understand wireless printing, or the computer, to use these tools. In point of fact these may appear as miracles, to our way of thinking, but they were simply mysteries, where all the puzzle pieces were already there, created by God, just waiting for someone, with inspiration and learned knowledge, to solve the mysteries and put them together.
Our life is a mystery, a puzzlement, where we do not know what is around the next bend. We are often confronted with adversities and what appear to be dead ends, and then, we cry out “Jesus, help me!” and, over time, that mountain moves and we go on. All the pieces of a solution in our lives were there before us. Each one created by God. And each of us are led to the key that puts those pieces together. The key, of course, is our faith and trust in God.
It makes no difference if your life puzzle is 500 pieces or 1000 pieces, or if it seems to be in shambles and you think that nothing will help. Then, in desperation, you call out, and God who loves you, shines His light, and there’s the piece that you’ve been missing all along. And we hear the Lord saying, “your sins are forgiven! Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!” And, through faith, your life picture is complete, and so is your joy. Amen.
Bulletin Board:
Today is George Washington’s birthday, fly the flag!
Oasis at Timbecrest:
Oasis is an afternoon program held in Timbercest Chapel each Wednesday at 4 p.m. It is open to all who would care to jon in. This Wednesday’s Oasis will feature the anointing of Lin Metzger and Brian Daniels who will soon leave on a mission trip to El Salvadore. Come, join us in support of our missionaries.
Prayer:
Almighty God, You know each piece of our puzzles that represent our lives there before us. Maybe we can’t figure out what is happening and where this is going or how it fits together, but You know for You have created each one. Maybe we’ve forgotten that You are the architect of our lives. Help us to bring that realization into understanding. Encourage us, Lord, strengthen us when we’re faced with a puzzle. Open our eyes to the keys that You have given us and know that each one leads us to where You would have us go. Help us to follow Your will in all things, Lord, even when our lives seem jumbled and we’re disappointed, then through all that fog we see Your light shining brightly and we know the way. With gratitude, Lord we pray in the Name of Jesus, amen.
