By: Kyle Idleman
Have you ever felt broken? Perhaps there’s an area of your life that seems beyond fixing? If so, how does following Jesus touch that are of your life, and how can you let Jesus touch that area of your life?
In Matthew 9 we meet two broken men. Both are blind, and hopeless because, well, blindness just doesn’t change. But then something did change. They heard about Jesus.
They hear Jesus can fix the broken so they go to him. They are seeking healing but are confronted with a question. Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28)
If you approached Jesus, I think he’d ask you that same question. Whatever it is you need him to do, I think he’d ask: Do you believe that I am able to do this?
So, do you? Do you believe following Jesus binds up and brings healing to the broken? Do you believe God can do the miraculous?
I do. I believe in miracles. I mean, the other day I drove through five stoplights and they were all green. Praise God! I believe in miracles! Recently, my family got dinner at a drive-thru. I ordered fast food for six people, and they got the order exactly right. You don’t need any more proof in the existence of God than that!
Perhaps that’s kind of how you think of God’s work in your life. You thank him when your kid sleeps through the night. You consider it a miracle if your husband puts his socks away. Or if your wife doesn’t say anything when you don’t put your socks away, that’s a miracle!
All of that is good. The Bible says to give thanks in all circumstances. But it’s not a miracle when you get a good parking spot at the mall. A miracle is something that can’t be explained by circumstances or natural causes. It defies scientific explanation. Do you believe in those? Do you believe God has that kind of power? Fans believe in Jesus, but followers know following Jesus can bring healing to their broken places.
In the gospels we see Jesus do miracles. The miracles were not performed inside a packed amphitheater with people coming up on a stage and standing in front of a preacher wearing a $3,000 suit to get a healing before the big offering. That’s not the situation here. Jesus’ miracles were verified. Eyewitnesses to the miracles were willing to give up their lives for their belief that they really happened. Many of the people who witnessed the miracles were hostile towards Jesus but still did not deny they happened.
Jesus did miracles. A.W. Tozer once said, “Anything God has ever done he can do now.” If you follow him, Jesus can do a miracle in your life. He can bring healing to your broken places.
I’ve heard Mike Breaux, one of my favorite communicators, compare the power of God in our lives to the show The Beverly Hillbillies. He asks: Were the Beverly Hillbillies rich only after they discovered oil under the ground or were they always wealthy? The answer? They were always wealthy. They always owned the oil, always had those resources; they just hadn’t discovered them yet. They were living like they were poor, but they were actually rich.
It would be so tragic to get to heaven and realize we had the power of God available to us, we had hope available to us, but never tapped into it. We never asked God for help. We never thought Jesus could work in our lives in a powerful way.
The two blind men thought Jesus could. He asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” and they said, “Yes, Lord.” Then, verse 29, “Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you’; and their sight was restored.” They had faith that meeting Jesus meant their sight could be restored, and their sight was restored.
When I read that story, I want to have that kind of faith.
What helped those two men have that kind of faith?
First, they heard the testimonies of other people. News about Jesus had spread and it reached them.
The Bible says faith comes from hearing. When you read stories of God’s power in the Bible it strengthens your faith. When you hear how God is working in the lives of other people today, it strengthens your faith.
Second, the two men publicly confessed. Jesus puts them on the spot. He asks, “Do you believe it?” They answer, “Yes.” There’s something about publicly confessing your faith in God that solidifies it. When you come forward, when you stand in the baptistery, when you proclaim your allegiance to Jesus at your job, it strengthens your faith. So, how can you publicly confess your faith? What opportunities do you have to do that?
Fans think the miracles of Jesus in the Bible are cool. Followers believe Jesus is still doing miracles today.
I feel like I have to address a question. Perhaps you have some brokenness that seemingly can’t be healed. Your child died, or the divorce is final, or the prognosis is terminal and you don’t have much time left. Your situation leaves you wondering, “Will this pain ever end?” The answer to that question is, “Absolutely.” Faith is believing that God is able, not necessarily that God will. But there will be a day when God will heal. It may not be on earth, but there will be a day in heaven when he will make all things new. The Bible calls miracles signs and wonders. A sign is something that points to something else. Signs are pointing to Jesus as the Messiah, but they’re also pointing to a day. They are a sneak preview of what is to come when God will make all things new. There will be no more death, no more crying and no more pain.
A friend of mind, John Caldwell, wrote about an experience he had attending the Easter pageant at my church, Southeast Christian. He wrote, “The most powerful aspect of the evening was played out not on stage but in the seats in front of me. I wish I knew the whole story but here’s what I observed. A mother and father had brought their beautiful, young daughter. I first noticed the braces on her arms and the way her parents held tightly to her hands. Then it became obvious their daughter was not only disabled physically but mentally as well. Yet her eyes lit up as the play unfolded and squeals of delight often escaped her lips…not always at the most appropriate time. I was impressed by the obvious tenderness and the loving care provided by her parents. An older couple that I assumed to be the grandparents sat on the other side of the mother. The grandmother would often reach over to offer a loving touch to her disabled granddaughter. Then it happened. The play was weaving together a montage of Jesus’ miracles: the Feeding of the 5,000, the Freeing of the Demoniac, the Healing of the Blind Man and a Deaf Woman—one miracle after another portraying the power of Jesus. Then on the stage a father and mother carried their dead daughter, a little girl only a little younger than the girl seated in front of me, and she was brought to Jesus. When he touched her, the little girl sprang to life and Jesus playfully held her up. Together Jesus and this young girl laughed and smiled. But I was no longer looking at the stage. I was looking at the parents and the grandparents who were now openly weeping and soon I was, too. I knew what they were thinking. They were thinking of the day when their little girl would be made whole and well in every way.”
Do you believe?
Followers of Jesus may be broken, but they are rich. Supernatural power is available to us, now, and complete healing and wholeness is coming, soon.
Jesus can. Your brokenness can be healed. Do you believe?
Are you just a fan of Jesus, or are you truly following Him?
Stream the popular Bible study, not a fan, on QAVA. In this series you’ll follow the story of Eric Nelson, a man living a triple life. After a near-death experience, Eric sets out on a spiritual journey that deepens his commitment to Jesus and challenges the faith of those closest to him, with insights from Kyle Idleman.
Start your free trial of QAVA today and stream “not a fan.”
