March 3 | Luke 9:37-43a

Pastor Dave Mann
Mar 3, 2025
3 min read

DAILY READING

REFLECTION

How God Amazes Us

By Dave Mann

What is the purpose of Jesus’ healings?

Certainly, one of the main reasons is that Jesus had compassion for his people. Disease, sickness, and dysfunction were not part of the original plan of God for his people in the Garden of Eden. Everything was “very good” (Genesis 21:32). At the start, there was no death. And in the end, there will be no death. See Revelation 21:4.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

But another reason is to give God glory. When we see God intervene in the current order of things, as it is broken and twisted away from the original plan of God, we are thrilled and amazed. (See Luke 9:43.) In other healings, we see this purpose highlighted as well. In John 9:2-3, we see the disciples trying to make sense of the purpose of a man born blind. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” But Jesus replied, in effect, “None of the above. Wrong question! There is a third option – that God might be glorified.”

In today's passage, we read about the boy with an unclean spirit who causes the child to convulse uncontrollably. This certainly does not appear to be part of God’s plan. Yet, if we want to find someone to blame for this horrible disorder, we are looking in the wrong direction. God can turn this distortion of his will into an experience of amazement and great glory. “And they were all amazed at the greatness of God” (v. 43). They worshipped and glorified God.

What different experiences do we have today? Brokenness of many sorts – sickness, broken relationships, mental illness, financial woes, etc. If we try to find someone to blame for such difficulties, we are looking in the wrong direction as well. A better query is, “I wonder how God is going to change this situation into an experience for our good and his glory.” God owes us nothing because of these difficulties in life. Nevertheless, he chooses to intervene in his time to heal our bodies, our relationships, and our difficulties. Our response is amazement that he would stoop down to pay attention to us, and then we worship him.

PRAYER

The following words of prayer were uttered in my presence by a Haitian friend, who had very few material goods in his life. We prayed together that God would intervene in a very difficult situation.

"Lord God of heaven and earth, we have no right to come into your presence to ask that you should do anything for us. If you were to do nothing for our benefit ever again, we would have no claim to be upset with you, for you have already given us far more than we deserve. Yet, because of your gracious will, you invite us to come to you and lay out our desires before you. Come, Lord God, and do your will in our midst, in Jesus’ name, Amen."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DAVE MANN

I am a Pastor for Internationals (retired) in the UALC community. I am married to Pam, father of four, and grandfather of six. Pam and I have lived twenty of our years in other countries including France, Cameroon, Haiti, and Morocco. In retirement, we continue to enjoy writing devotionals, learning languages, and teaching English to internationals.

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