As I listened to the sermon I also heard the vibration of a silenced phone. I am completely deaf in one ear and only have partial hearing in the other ear, yet I clearly heard the silent vibrations of a phone. Across the room I saw her troubled face as she quietly rose and exited the sanctuary. Suddenly, I remembered the prayer I had prayed earlier that morning, and I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit saying, “Go, be with her.” But I hesitated, until in my mind I saw the picture of the women who were present with Jesus at the crucifixion.
What was the prayer that I’d prayed? I had asked God to help me move at the impulse of His will. All year I have been studying the book of Mark. I have become aware of the story within the story. I have been watching Jesus bring physical hearing to the deaf and physical sight to the blind. But within these miracles I have also become aware of a deeper miracle, that of opening the ears of the spirit and the giving of spiritual sight.
In my study of Mark I had been looking at the women who ministered to Jesus. The only other ones who ministered to Jesus were the angels. They ministered to Jesus after He was tempted by the Devil in wilderness. When Jesus was praying at the Garden of Gethsemane an angel was there. The women who had been following Jesus ministering to His earthly needs were there at the cross. They could do nothing for Him, they were simply present with Him.
“Oh Lord, I want to be like these women!” I prayed. “I want to move at the impulse of Your will and be present, even when all I have to give is my presence. Open the ears of my Spirit to hear Your voice.” But when the opportunity came that morning I hesitated. Should I stand up and leave in the middle of the service just because I heard her phone vibrate? Then with the eyes of my spirit I saw again the women who ministered to Jesus by simply being present, and I felt as if I was seeing with more than physical sight. I quietly got up to join my friend.
The phone call had been from her sister who was staying with their dying mother. She was unable to reach her sister. I couldn’t take away her grief, but by obeying the words I heard in my spirit and seeing the situation through the spiritual lens of the Scriptures, I was able to simply be present and pray that the God of all comfort would be with her as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment