With GREAT excitement I bring to you a weekly devotional by Assemble the Minions (aka Monica—supermom to THREE boys!). Every Monday she will encourage your soul with her words of encouragement. She is pretty much my favorite author. Ever. And a pretty superbly awesome woman in person, too! So, look forward to Mondays as our Minions’ Mom shares a devotional to begin our week!
God bless because you know the saying—Only the first 5 days after the weekend are the tough ones!
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As a kid I was always nervous about asking my parents for anything, which was really silly because my parents are fantastic, salt of the earth type people. I had no reason to fear them but I was terrified they would say no to whatever my request happened to be, so I just didn’t ask. Finally, after I had a massive childhood breakdown about not getting something I never asked for, my mom gently told me that it was her job to determine a yes or no and by not asking, all I was doing was determining a no before the request had ever been made. My not asking only served to make be angry at my parents for a decision they never had a chance to consider.
There is a story in Scripture about a woman with some serious lady problems. In Mark 5, the author tells us that she had been bleeding for 12 years and all the attempts to heal her had actually made things worse. But one day, Jesus shows up. She knows he can heal her, but she is terrified to ask. Instead, she decides that if she can just touch him, she would be healed. So, she dons her ninja gear (ok, maybe not) and squeezes herself through the crowd and touches the hem of his robe. Jesus feels the power leave him (isn’t that so fascinating?!) and he turns around to ask who touched him, knowing full well it was her. She comes to him completely terrified and trembling and confesses. “Daughter,” he responds, “your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Can you hear the mercy and compassion oozing from that one word, “daughter?” I love how He responds to her as a Father, matching her fear with His peace. What if she had never approached him? What if she’d let her fear keep her from the peace and healing that was hers for the asking? Not only would she have continued in her suffering but she never would have known Jesus, not just as God’s Son, but as God incarnate, capable of calming our deepest fears at the deepest level.
There are somethings in our life that can only be healed/fixed/attended to by the Father, but sometimes we are terrified to ask. My guess is that we don’t ask because we are terrified He is going to say no. Its better not to ask then to have Him reject our request, because, what, then, would that say about Him? About us? So we continue on, alone in our suffering.
The thing is, He might say no. But a no doesn’t mean “get lost.” It means that as we draw near to Him to ask and He draws near to respond, we are closer than we were before the request was made. Jesus knows what we need just like He knew who touched Him, but the relationship is built in the conversation.
P.S. A no may be a no to something good, so he can give us the best later.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
And 2 Makes Crazy 