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Turning Aside to See

March 8, 2012
Sharon Jaynes


Today's Truth

"Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you," (Matthew 9:22 NIV).


Friend to Friend

All day long God is working in and around us. It is so easy to simply go about the task of living without seeing God's handprints on our circumstances and footprints on our paths. When we see life as a "to do list" to check off, or random acts of fortune to celebrate or misfortune to endure, we miss seeing God and hearing His voice as the scarlet thread that connects the moments and the days of our lives. 

Frederick Buechner noted, "All the absurd little meetings, decisions, inner skirmishes that go to make up our days. It all adds up to very little, and yet it all adds up to very much. Our days are full of nonsense, and yet not, because it is precisely into the nonsense of our days that God speaks to us words of great significance…"
When Jesus came to earth in human form, He had a definite plan and purpose.  The Bible tells us, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work,"
 (I John 3:8).  Another translation says it this way: "The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve) the works of the devil [has done]" (Amplified).

Even though Jesus' plan and purpose was clearly stated, He welcomed interruptions when His Father placed someone in His path. Jesus turned aside to care for the woman caught in adultery and spoke to the Pharisees about forgiveness. He turned aside to heal a blind man and spoke about the reason the man had been blind from birth. He turned aside to bless children even though the disciples tried to shoo them away.

He turned aside to question who had touched the hem of his garment and spoke words of encouragement and healing to a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. He turned aside to speak to a curious Zacheaus perched in a tree.  He turned aside to woo a frightened insecure fourteen-year-old girl and welcome her with open arms – me.

Jesus paid attention to the circumstances of those around him as he went from one place of ministry to the next. He noticed a woman mourning in a funeral procession for her only son, a woman drawing water by a well, a lame man lying by a pool and a blind man crying out by the side of the road. To those looking on, they may have seen each of these situations as an interruption in Jesus' busy schedule, but Jesus saw them as divine appointments.
Today, as you go through the tasks of daily living, pay attention to those around you. You never know when someone in your path may be your special assignment from God.

Let's Pray

Dear Lord, I have so much to do today, but nothing is as important as what You have for me to do. Help me to pay attention to the lives around me and recognize any special assignments that You may have for me today. 
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

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