When GOD Says Wait

Waiting is hard. 

We wait for a lot of things in life. Jobs. A spouse. Children. Retirement. Peace. But when the thing we're waiting for is healing--for ourselves or for someone we love--the waiting can be excruciating.

This morning my Bible reading took me to Luke 13:10-17. Jesus is traveling from town to town, often teaching in the local synagogue. This time he's there on a Sabbath, the holy day of rest in Jewish custom. One did not do any work on the Sabbath and spent the day reflecting on God's goodness. 

On that particular Sabbath, a woman is in the crowd, listening to Jesus. We don't know her name. We don't know if she's married, single, or widowed. We don't know if she was with anyone or if she was alone. We don't know if she was a regular attender to synagogue or if she'd heard about Jesus and wanted to see him for herself. The latter is a possibility, considering her situation.

What is her situation?

The woman is crippled. Stooped over to the point that she hasn't stood up straight in over eighteen years! The Bible says it was caused by a spirit, and Jesus later says Satan himself had kept her bound in the affliction. I can only imagine the physical pain she's been in for all those long years. Her bones no doubt ached. Her muscles were atrophied. She couldn't sleep well. She stared at the ground whenever she walked. Then there was the emotional pain that comes with being different. Children probably made fun of her. Adults ignored her when they passed her on the streets. Words like "unclean" were whispered. She was someone to avoid. 

On the day Jesus comes to town, this woman, despite all she's been through, is in the synagogue. The very place she needed to be in order to meet Jesus face to face. Although there's much we don't know about this woman, Jesus knew everything about her! He'd heard her many prayers through the years. He knew when he walked into the synagogue that day that she would be there. 

Picture the scene in your mind: Jesus is at the center, a scroll of scripture in front of him, sharing the Good News about the Kingdom of GOD with the crowd. But in the middle of his teaching, Jesus pauses. He sees the bent woman in the women's section. He speaks to her and calls her over. He touches her with his hands. And in that moment, he heals her. 

"Woman, you are freed from your disability." And immediately she was made straight. (v. 12-13)

Everything the woman had been waiting for--for eighteen long years--became reality in a moment! Her rigid spine straightened. Her muscles grew strong. She stood in amazement...and then she glorified GOD! We don't know why she had to wait for eighteen years, but two thousand years later, her story is still being told. 

Are you waiting for something? 

Something you've been praying about for a long time? Are there times when you wonder if GOD even hears you or cares? The woman in our story probably felt the same things. Hopelessness is heavy. Fear is debilitating. Trust is hard, especially in the midst of pain. But the thing the woman didn't know that day was that eighteen years into all of the pain and heartache, she would come face to face with the Living GOD. He would see her, speak to her, touch her, and heal her. 

Jesus knew that woman, and he knows us, too. He has plans and purposes for us. Our job is to trust him while we're waiting. 

If you have a prayer need, I would be honored to pray with you. It will be kept confidential. Send me an email at: AuthorMichelleShocklee@gmail.com

In times when I've been waiting for GOD to see, speak, touch, and heal, I've found this song encouraging. I hope you do too!

Grace and peace, 

~Michelle

There's Gratitude ... and then there's GRATITUDE!

November is my favorite month of the year! The changing of seasons speaks to my soul. I've truly enjoyed all the colors of autumn in our new home. These pictures were taken just a few days apart. Isn't it amazing that we get to enjoy God's handiwork year after year, season after season? He is quite the artist!

Then there is my birthday, celebrated in the middle of the month. I'm old enough now that birthdays aren't that big of a deal. There are only three people on the planet that are required to remember my special day -- hubby and our two boys -- and honestly, they wouldn't be able to forget it if they tried! Ha! 

But each birthday is also a reminder of how blessed I am that God gave me wonderful Christ-loving parents. Our family was far from perfect, as most families are, but the one constant throughout every day of my life was the unconditional love given me by my Mom and Dad. They're both in heaven now enjoying the blessed presence of our Lord and Savior, joining in that "great cloud of witnesses" the author of Hebrews spoke of in Hebrews 12:1.

Mommy and me 54 years ago

When I make my list of blessings this week, my sweet Mommy and Daddy are right there at the top. 

But as we come into Thanksgiving week, I'm pondering what true gratitude looks like. Although you don't typically think of this biblical story at Thanksgiving time, I believe it gives us a true picture of gratitude. 

In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem when he encounters ten men with leprosy. Lepers, as you probably know, were considered unclean and couldn't live among their loved ones and friends. I'm sure theirs was a life of misery, loneliness, and despair. Without modern medicine, skin conditions didn't just clear up on their own, forcing people to live their entire lives as outcasts. 

When the lepers see Jesus, they call to him: "Master, have mercy on us." Have you ever said those words to the Lord? I have, and thankfully, he did, in the same way he did that long ago day on the road.

"Go," Jesus says. "Show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him -- and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him," Rise and go; your faith has made you well." 

I'm sure the other nine men were thrilled they'd been cleansed. Jesus had basically given them their lives back. But were they grateful? Did they praise God, as the Samaritan did by his act of returning to Jesus, falling at his feet, and thanking him? 

It may sound odd, but this Thanksgiving I want to be like a Samaritan leper. I don't want to take all the many, many blessings God has given me for granted. From the smallest to the largest, I want to thank my Lord, my God with a truly grateful heart. From my family heritage, to my sweet husband of thirty-plus years, to my two beautiful sons, to the wonderful new job and home we are thoroughly enjoying, to the many friends and extended family, to the freedoms we enjoy in this country, to the bounty that will be on our table Thursday afternoon ... thank you, Jesus!! Without you and your sacrifice on the cross, I would have nothing. 

HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!!

~Michelle

Are Stones Doing Your Job?

We have a lot of rocks here on the ranch. Especially up at the top of the hills. Don't ask me what kind, because I don't know. The hard kind, I would say. Maybe some limestone. Maybe not. All I know is there are acres and acres of them, making it difficult to walk up there. Even the ATV has to work to get over and around them when we go out on our daily search for the sheep.

My mom loved collecting rocks. I still remember a certain camping trip to Colorado where she and my sister hiked up a mountain to see the view, only to come back down lugging a huge rock that Mom just had to have. When Mom passed away last May and I knew we would sell the family home, I brought some of her rocks home with me to put in my yard. They make me smile and think of her, but for the most part rocks simply don't interest me.

But yesterday I gained a whole new appreciation for them.

Palm Sunday reminds us of the day Jesus entered Jerusalem. He came riding on a donkey, surrounded by crowds shouting, "Hosanna!" They thought their new king had arrived. A king who would rescue them from the oppressive Romans. Reading Luke 19:38, you get a feel for what their mindset was that day:

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"

They'd seen Jesus do some amazing things so far. He'd healed the lame, the blind, the deaf. He'd raised Lazarus from the dead. There wasn't anything that Jesus couldn't do. Surely he now came to kick the Romans out of town and take his rightful place on the throne. 

Of course we know that was never Jesus's intention. He did come to save the lost, but not the way they thought. And aren't we who weren't even born yet thankful? If Jesus's only mission two-thousand years ago had been to remove the Romans, we would have no hope and no future with God. 

But not everyone was happy about Jesus coming to Jerusalem. The Pharisees in particular. These party-poopers grumbled and mumbled and complained while everyone else is shouting and singing and dancing. Can't you just picture them? Dressed in their fine robes, standing off from the "regular" folks, with scowling, dark faces. 

I've seen "Pharisees" like this. People who don't "get" Jesus or his followers. They don't understand what the big deal is. They laugh at and criticize believers's faith. They deny Jesus's very existence. Some of them even go to battle against Christians and Christianity. They may not be the religious leaders of biblical times, but they are cut from the same pattern.

The Pharisees watching Jesus ride into Jerusalem didn't get Jesus. They didn't see him as a Savior. They saw him as a troublemaker. Anyone who could gather crowds that large and that noisy had to be trouble. It was obvious to them they had to stop things before it got out of control. Their control. 

"Teacher," they said to Jesus, "rebuke your disciples!" (v. 39)

In other words, tell the crowd to shut up! Tell them to stop acting like Jesus is someone worthy of being praised. Stop lifting your hands to heaven. Stop singing and shouting. Stop waving the palm branches. Go home and be quiet. Keep your religion to yourselves. 

Sounds a little like today's world, doesn't it?

But Jesus IS worthy of being praised! He IS worthy of singing and shouting and palm branch waving. He IS worthy of people crowding around to see him and hear his voice. Because he IS God! And if the people didn't shout his praises, something else would.

"I tell you," Jesus replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (v. 40)

Let that sink in for a minute. Cold, hard, lifeless, bothersome rocks will cry out praises to God if we keep silent. The rocks here on the ranch. Mom's collection of rocks. Rocks all over the world. They will step in and do our job if we don't. 

Jesus lived. He died. And He lives again. All because of His great love for you and me. He is more than worthy of our praise! So lift those hands! Shout that blessed name! Tell the world the Good News that Jesus saves!

Let's not let the rocks have all the fun. 

Have a Blessed Easter as we celebrate our Risen Lord! 

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:

USA, Canada, Poland, Spain, Philippines 

When "Religion" Gets in the Way

Have you ever witnessed a miraculous healing? I mean the type that happens right before your eyes. One minute a person is a certain way, the next that person is healed and whole. I haven't been privileged to witness anything like this...yet...but I know some folks who have. On mission trips in Mexico, friends of ours saw some miraculous healings take place. I've also heard pastors, missionaries, etc. tell amazing stories of blind people seeing, visible tumors disappearing, and on and on.  Really cool stuff that shows us God is still in the business of miracles!

Lately I've been reading in the Gospels. I especially love reading about the sick, blind and crippled people coming to Jesus to be healed. His compassion is so beautiful. One of my favorite stories is found in Luke 5:17-27. It's about a paralytic who is brought to Jesus by some of his friends. The crowd gathered around the house was so thick and large, these men couldn't even get close to the door let alone get their friend inside so Jesus could heal him. What to do, what to do?? These awesome friends didn't give up. They didn't say, "Sorry, dude, but we can't do anything else." They came up with a plan.

"When they could not find a way to [get inside] because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus." (Luke 5:19)

That is faith!! That is true friendship! Don't ever give up on your friends and loved ones who need to be healed -- whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually -- by Jesus!

Today, however, I read about a miracle that really made me sad. Not because of the person who was healed, but because of the reaction of those who witnessed it.

In John 9 we find a man who has been blind since birth. Back in those days, people figured the parents had been terrible sinners in order to have a child born without sight. But Jesus told his disciples that was not true. In fact, he says "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (v. 3)

Lesson for us: God always has a plan, even for the "bad" things in our life!

Jesus goes on to heal this man's blindness. Can you imagine being able to see for the first time in your life!? Wow! Unspeakable joy must have filled this man's heart.

But the Pharisees didn't see it that way. They didn't see a man filled with joy. They didn't see a man blind from birth seeing the world around him for the very first time. They didn't rejoice that God had done something amazing! What they saw instead was religion. Why? Because this wonderful miracle took place on the Sabbath. And according to their very skewed understanding of the Law of Moses, they believed Jesus was breaking the law by performing miracles on the Sabbath.

"This man [Jesus] is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." (v. 16)

UNBELIEVABLE!!

A man has just been healed of life-long blindness and all they can do is grumble. This isn't the first time they reacted to a miracle this way. In Matthew 12:9-13 Jesus heals a man's shriveled hand on the Sabbath and the Pharisees have a fit. That, my friend, is Religion. When you are so set on keeping laws and rules and finding fault with every good thing going on around you, you are the one who is blind.

"For judgement I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will be blind." ~Jesus in John 9:29

God absolutely gave us laws to abide by. Jesus himself said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) But when those laws become greater than God, that's when we have a big ol' problem. That's when we can't see what God is doing right in front of our eyes. That's when the religiousness of being a Christian becomes greater than Christ himself.

Yikes!

I don't want to be blind. What about you?

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Today's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Russia, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa, Slovenia, Ukraine, Israel, Latvia, Australia

Genealogy and Eggs (No Chickens Here!)

I love learning about my ancestors.

My mother's family can be traced back to the 1600s. They came from Germany and helped settle Germantown, Pennsylvania. One dude, Henry Tyson, fought in the Revolutionary War. My great grandfather, Isaiah Wagner, fought for the Union Army in the Civil War and participated in the Oklahoma Land Run.

My dad's family immigrated from Mexico in 1905. I'm proud that my great grandfather, Teofilo Chaparro, was a Congregational minister, and his son, Miguel, my grandpa, became a Baptist minister and preached throughout Texas and New Mexico.

Knowing ones roots is very satisfying indeed.

Today my scripture reading was in Luke 3 where the lineage of Jesus is listed. Reading it, I was struck with this thought: Jesus had ancestors! Earthly ancestors. Just like you and me, he had grandparents who had parents who had parents, etc. Imagine how cool it would've been to be the Great Grandma of the Messiah!

But the main thing I took away from my reading today was this: God planned Jesus' birth from the very beginning. Every detail, every generation was part of a plan. From Noah and Shem, to Jacob and Judah, all the way to Adam who was "the son of God." (v.38) Each one vital, leading up to the ultimate birth of Jesus.

Think about it this way: If my mother hadn't married my father, I would not exist. Or, if his mother hadn't married his father, my dad wouldn't exist, therefore I would not exist. See?

So, if even one person in the lineage listed in Luke 3:23-38 had deviated from God's plan and married someone else, Joseph, Jesus' earthly father and Mary's husband, would not have been born. Or, if you take Mary's lineage that also was from the House of David, Mary would not have been born if one of her ancestors had made a different choice in mates. Yet God told us long before Joseph and Mary existed that the Son would come from David's line.

If you're still not convinced God plans things out, chew on this fact for a little while:

Every woman is born with all the eggs she will ever have.

That means the egg that eventually developed into YOU was already in YOUR MOTHER while she was still developing inside HER MOTHER!!

Too cool!!

That means the egg that eventually developed into Jesus was already inside Mary when she was inside her mother's womb! To make it personal: My mom was 36 when I was born. So, about 38 years before I was even conceived, the egg that would eventually be ME was already inside my mom! Of course, it takes a dad's contribution too, which, again, is all part of a perfect plan.

Wow!

One thing is very clear to me: God is a God of order. His plans are perfect. Nothing--- and I mean NOTHING! ---  happens by chance!

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Germany, India, Thailand, Ukraine, Slovenia, Turkey, Australia, Philippines, China, Russia, El Salvador, Canada, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Israel