Every time thus far, when Jesus has entered the Synagogue, He has found someone who was sick, either physically or spiritually. In chapter 1 it was the man with the unclean spirit and here in chapter 3 it is the man with the withered hand. One could say that the Synagogue was the place where the sick hung out, waiting to be healed.

You could also say that about the church today, or Paradox today. It is a place where the wick come to be healed, either physically or spiritually or mentally or emotionally. In the church we are all in need in some way, we are all sick with the illness of sin. Therefore, the church could be viewed as an Emergency Room. And in that Emergency Room are people who want to be healed. People who are waiting for the Great Physician to come and heal their wounds, guilts, shames, and sorrows. However, there are some people in the church today who are NOT WILLING TO ADMIT to their sickness. Rather they hide it away from the view of everyone, including God Himself.

But we can't do that. We can not be people who aren't willing to ADMIT TO OUR SINS. We need to be real with ourselves, real with others, and real with our Lord. But we don't want to do that sometimes. In fact, sometimes we are content with hiding those sins away. However, the danger in doing that is that your sin will ALWAYS surface. It will always be revealed in one way or another.  James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

In the E.R. you are surrounded by a team of people who are taking care of your every need. Doctors, administration, nurses, specialists are all there to assist the patient in whatever is needed. In PARADOX we are to assist each other and be there for each other when there is a need. We are commanded to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. We need to be a team INTENT on meeting the needs of those around us because that is what Jesus did. He was intent on meeting the people's needs who were in the synagogue.  And that included that man.

Therefore, Jesus commanded that man to "Stretch out his hand." He asked the man with the withered, battered, paralyzed hand to move it. It was a request that the man simply could not follow. There was no natural way that the man could have moved his hand. And that being so the man could have said, "No way Jesus. Are you kidding me? You are asking me to do something that is incredibly impossible to do. I could never do that. You are going to embarrass me in front of other people." But the man didn't do that. He simply stretched out his hand and Jesus healed it.

WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TO STRETCH FORTH? WHAT IS HE ASKING YOU TO GET OUT OF YOUR LIFE? Something that you could not physically do on your own. Something that is so entangled in your life. Something that is so hard to break away from. Whatever He is asking you to do, DON'T FIGHT IT. Just stretch out your "hand". The reason is that in GOD'S COMMANDMENTS ARE GOD'S ENABLEMENTS.

When you decide to obey God in something that He is calling for you to do that is outside your capabilities, He will give you the power through His Spirit to do it. When you are OBEDIENT to Him, He will empower you. You will find power to turn and to flee from that sin. And when we "stretch forth our hands" God is faithful to come through and gives us the power to follow what He desires.

So, I ask you:

WHAT SICKNESS ARE YOU HIDING FROM OTHERS, INCLUDING GOD?

WHAT IS GOD CALLING YOU TO STRETCH FORTH?

WHAT IS GOD TELLING YOU TO REPENT OF?

God is faithful to give you the power to turn and the grace to forgive.  God Bless!