- "Get up and stand in front of everyone." I've been standing in front of people most of my whole life, but by my choice, not His call. It's been my way of hiding behind humor and behind courage. Though it may not appear so, in the past few years I've grown deeply in my desire to grow small. Oddly enough my Lord has simultaneously begun to call me to stand in front of others. With my shriveled-ness.
- And then says, "Stretch out your hand." Another way of saying, "Do what you can't do, and let everyone watch." G. Campbell Morgan says, "When we turn from a contemplation of a withered hand and look into the face of Jesus, we know that the command is possible because He commands it, no matter how impossible it may appear."
All this is good sermon material. But for the man with the disability, the one on display, the one who is looked at for countless reasons... many of which he brought upon himself... it is a real and giant lump in the throat. How good it would be to pull back, retreat, or hide in humor. Or how easy to blame God.
But no. He wants not only me, but others to see the power of God.
And He wants me to fix my eyes not on past failures, but into His face.
