Maybe God is waiting too
An In-flight Emergency
Imagine flying across the U.S in a commercial jet.
All at once, the cabin starts losing air.
Everyone starts gasping and struggling to breathe. The pilot immediately goes into a controlled emergency dive to get everyone to a lower, breathable altitude. Meanwhile, the little yellow oxygen masks with the clear tubing drop down at eye level in front of every passenger.
Would anyone refuse to put on the yellow mask, and then complain they weren’t getting any oxygen? Some Christians might–we do it all the time.
We start praying hard for something. In response the Holy Spirit begins nudging us to obey Him in a new way. The two are connected.
The oxygen mask is offered, but we can refuse to obey the flight attendant’s instructions. If we don’t put on the mask, we won’t receive any oxygen.
Simple—yet we miss it.
Freedom from All Egyptian Diseases
In Ex 15:26 the Lord gave an extraordinary promise to the Israelites.
He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I bought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you. (Exodus 15:26 NIV)
God didn’t keep the Israelites healthy supernaturally. Instead, He gave them some clear rules to follow.
God’s “Cure”
Centuries before the discovery of microscopic germs, the Lord’s divine laws protected His people from disease.
But only if they obeyed.
Like telling a young child, “Don’t eat that, it’s dirty,” Yahweh separated everything into ‘clean’ and ‘unclean.’
For instance, the Lord commanded the Jews not to eat pigs. Pigs were declared ‘unclean’ animals. The reason is simple. When under-cooked, eating pork can cause Trichinosis. Because unfortunately, the pork or sausage is often infected with parasitic roundworms.
Another of His commands? “Don’t touch a dead body.” Decaying bodies often transmit disease.
By law, contact with a dead body required a Jew to wash himself and his clothes. He also had to quarantine himself till evening. If a dead body came in contact with his possessions, or anything in his tent, it became unclean too. So if the item could not be cleansed with water, it had to be destroyed.
Basically God’s laws instructed his people to practice good hygiene, which kept everyone healthy.
But only if they obeyed His commands.
Obedience Leads to Blessing
Obeying Jesus’ call to forgive our enemies contains a powerful blessing too.
We often snap, “They don’t deserve it!” and maybe they don’t. But our Redeemer wants to set us free.
During WWII, Corrie ten Boom aided the Jews and eventually ended up in a German concentration camp. After the war, God prompted this wonderful Christian woman to offer a healing place to people brutalized by the Nazis. She discovered those who forgave their enemies healed. Those who refused to forgive remained emotional wrecks—life-long prisoners of their trauma.
A Final Word
What are you tussling with the Lord about? What oxygen mask are you refusing to put on? Maybe God’s call to obey and getting your prayers answered are linked.
You will never lose if you choose to obey the Lord.
So do what He says. Put on your oxygen mask and breathe deeply.
All images are from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
This devotion is re-used with permission by the website, “Christian Devotions.” This website features a devotion by a different writer each day. So each devotion is unique and frequently challenging. To explore this website, please click here: christiandevotions.us.
To access my earlier writings on this website, click on the link above and then select “author list.” When you click on my name, all my devotions will be listed, along with my bio.
