Yesterday was Palm Sunday and we recalled Jesus’ last week on Earth. There’s always a lot of action and intrigue in the story with betrayal, denial, torture and death. We spend Holy Week remembering the power that Jesus had in turning water into wine, healing the sick, casting out demons, and giving people hope. On Easter, we rejoice when Jesus conquers even death.
I’ve started working on my next book. In preparation, I started reading the Bible this year in chronological order. As I’m making this journey, I’m noting the examples where God has used ordinary people to heal others and perform miracles beyond human imaginations. One of the earliest stories is in Exodus (9:33) when Moses spreads out his hands toward the Lord and the thunder, hail, and rain stop.
I’ve been a church-goer all my life, showing up on Sundays and volunteering my time, treasure, and talent in each church I’ve attended. I’d read the miracle stories of Jesus many times but didn’t start really believing them until I joined an Episcopal Church 11 years ago. The worship service and preaching reinforced God’s power in my life and comforted me through breast cancer treatment and a second failed marriage.
A few years ago during Holy Week, I started thinking about how the early disciples felt after Jesus’ death. Perhaps abandonment and a sense of loss? They tried to go back to the “before” when they were just fishermen and tax collectors. But at Pentecost, they realized that they had the power to heal, cast out demons, and preach of God’s love for us through Jesus.
Just like the first disciples, we have the power to heal, too.
We may not be able to raise people from the dead like Jesus did, or turn water into wine, but we do have the power, right now, to heal others through our relationships.
We have the power to forgive those who have wronged us
We have the power to not hold grudges
We have the power to not cheat people in business
We have the power to not lie in our personal relationships
We have the power to guard a neighbor’s goods and spouse, not trying to take them away, but enhancing their relationships as good neighbors
We have the power to encourage and support our co-workers
We have the power to care for God’s creation of the earth and His children
We have the power to demonstrate to our children what a compassionate human being looks like in their actions, their words, and their deeds
Throughout Holy Week and the rest of the year, I’m thinking about the power I already have and how I need to start using it. That power comes directly from Jesus, but as His follower, I am commanded to use it to further God’s kingdom.
You already have the power to heal. How are you going to use it?
Blessings, my friend,
Agatha