Faith, Not Fear

Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. -Luke 8:37 (NIV)

A few days ago, one of my Facebook friends (also a pastor) posted that he was recently on the receiving end of God's healing mercies. Back in 2000 his back was injured and since that time he has been in constant pain and unable to stand up straight. While leading a retreat this past weekend, he described feeling the Holy Spirit enter him and at that moment his back pain immediately disappeared.

When you read my friend's story of God's healing, what is your initial reaction? Some, I'm sure, will react with doubt or skepticism. Some will respond with apathy or indifference. Some might even react angrily and some fearfully.

In our suggested scripture lesson this morning, Jesus has just healed a demon-possessed man. You might be tempted to think that the crowd would respond to witnessing this miracle with increased faith. Instead, we're told that the crowd responds with increased fear. They even ask Jesus to leave.

May God grant you the grace to experience some kind of healing today and may your respond with faith, not fear.


Tomorrow's suggested readings are Ezra 4, Psalm 113 and 127, Luke 9.