Leprosy and Other Bad Things

Sometimes there's something nostalgic about reading the Bible. I guess it reminds me of being younger and in Sunday School, but reading the stories again is also a little like being introduced to old friends. You get reacquainted with Mary and Martha, Lazarus (what a story there), and the twelve disciples. In the reading of these stories, there's definitely something that jogs my memory and makes me think about my life as a younger person, reading or hearing those stories for the first time.

But, there's also a way that I understand things differently now than I would have when I was younger. The stories of the miracles are still amazing, but there's a way in which they speak to something deeper about understanding a relationship with God.

For some reason, I really like the story of the man who was healed of leprosy. I'm not sure why. It's in the middle of a lot of the great red-lettered parts of the Bible, so that's one reason I like it. But, I also like it because the man is suffering from something that seems so terrible, yet he is healed. I guess I like that because I think of the many problems we all face and how insurmountable they seem, how it often seems like there will be no end to the things that trouble us.

And, sometimes, I wonder if we have both the faith and the humility to turn to God to ask for help with those things that trouble us. It seems that, so often, we think that there can be no end to our problems or that we must look for answers and solutions in every place without thinking to look to God. And, sometimes, we try to solve all problems on our own, even when we face troubles that we cannot possibly handle.

So, I think we can learn a lot from the man with leprosy. Just consider how he asks for help. He says to Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." How much faith did it take to assert that Jesus could heal him of his incurable disease? And how much humility did it take to ask? Can we have that kind of faith, that kind of humility?

I'm not at all suggesting that we take a vacation from working on those areas of our lives that need work. Remember that the Israelites were given as much manna as they needed, but they couldn't just sit in their tents waiting to be served. They had to go out and collect their food. God expects us to put forth effort, even in the midst of our troubles. After all, the man with leprosy wasn't sitting around waiting to be healed; he went and found the Healer.

I think that part of having a relationship with God is knowing that we must turn to Him for help, that we can't just persist in trying to solve all problems on our own. Sometimes, the problems are just too big. Sometimes, the problems are bigger than we are. Fortunately, God is bigger than our problems, and He will help, if we only have the faith and humility to ask.