Today’s Scriptures give us a front-row seat to God’s priorities. Have you ever stopped & wonder what God values most? A helpful way to think about it, is this:
how well do we really know people in our own families? What do we understand about their hearts, their aspirations, and even their struggles? Some of us may be surprised to get some of the questions wrong! This is a good test for us, because the same applies to our relationship with God. What do we know about God? When Israel first arrived in the wilderness of Sinai, they found themselves in a very uncomfortable place, especially when compared to Egypt. But it was there that God spoke to Moses and reminded them, “
You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” God was not just leading them geographically; He was leading them spiritually, bringing them out of fear/panic and unrest into a place where they could learn faith, healing, and trust. What is so striking is that God often uses the wilderness, discomfort, and even hardship as a setting where we can hear Him most clearly. During the civil war in Rwanda, we lost everything and slept outside. We started to think about God seriously! When life is too comfortable, we often become spiritually dull. But in the wilderness, we become more aware of our need, more open to His voice, and more ready to be shaped by God’s kingdom.
Matthew shows us something similar in the ministry of Jesus. Christ entered an uncomfortable world filled with need, and also sent out His disciples in the same environment with very little in their hands — no extra money, no bag, no support system, only faith in God. That tells us something important: if God’s healing is not working in us, how can we expect God’s results? Our plea to God should be: “
Lord, do not allow us to make even one step without you!”
God’s priority was to heal Israel, so that by his hand, Israel could become a channel of healing to the nations. That is why He led them into a barren wilderness with thorny bushes in it to teach them and to show them their glorious destiny, which was as He told them: “You shall be a priestly Kingdom and a Holy Nation.” But that destiny would not come easily. God had to remove the habits of Egyptian slavery from them: to drain out of them the ways of Egyptian slavery. And then we see the same heart in Jesus. He looked at the crowds and was moved with compassion because they were weary, hurting, and helpless. The Greek word for [harassed], can also signify worn out, abandoned, neglected. In other words, they were already in an uncomfortable place — and that is exactly where God’s heart was drawn to find them and heal them. It is extraordinary that where we find the environment of suffering, God’s presence is there to heal!
This is why I truly believe that God’s first concern is to heal His people so that in turn, His people can become a means of healing to the world. That is still true for us today. As believers in Christ, redeemed by His blood, we belong to God. And that means our healing matters deeply to Him. He wants to make us a blessing to our families, our churches, our communities, and beyond. But what happens when we stop listening to God because our comforts have taken priority? What happens when we settle into ease and lose sight of our calling? Jesus gave His disciples a clear assignment and told them to care for the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons.
So, what about us? What impact are we making in our own communities as His disciples? These are serious questions. In the meantime, consider this way forward: “
Don’t doubt God’s presence even in the worst of circumstances, don’t be distracted by storms of life, always seek divine healing in your own life, so that God can heal others through you.”
Amen.
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