Jesus “went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed…” But our Lord and his disciples did not ride on donkeys — they walked. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem rises 3,700 feet or 1127.76 metres, so it was more a climb than a walk.
Likewise, our acceptance of the natural environment helps us to better appreciate the supernatural things that God does from time to time. This appreciation is especially necessary when a series of miracles takes place and meetings are added to cope with the needs of the sick.
I like this line from Shakespeare’s “Henry V”: “We are but warriors for the working day…” (Act 4, Scene 3) Likewise, as ministers we do what we can to whoever we can and then go home, leaving the results of our ministry to God. In my case, some of the most amazing healings have taken place in the days following.
There had been no immediate miracles, but I had done what I could and left the results to the Lord. “These signs shall follow those who believe…” (Mark 16:17) Whether they take place on the spot or later is not our responsibility.
Some of the signs that followed the ministry of the disciples would have felt in their own bodies, in the form of tiredness and sore feet. In W.A. a little over a year ago, I prayed for a woman who came into a meeting with a pushchair. Busy with others, I didn’t see her leave the chair and run excitedly around the room!
After praying for another seven or so people, I collapsed from heat exhaustion. I laid myself down on the front row of seats and drank some of the water that caring people had been pouring on my face. The faces around me were in swirling colours but after a while my sight returned to normal. Later, I realized that I should have taken off my coat before ministering because unlike damp, subtropical Southeast Queensland, the heat in Western Australia has no moisture content.
Fifteen minutes later I was back on my feet but incapable of praying for others. From hero to zero in a flash! A bit like the fictional Superman reverting to the mild-mannered Clark Kent. But Jesus is the real Hero, and his story is not fictional but factual.
Bottom line: Acts 10:38 informs us that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power, enabling him to go about “doing good, healing all”; yet Jesus told his disciples to “come apart and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31) knowing that if they didn’t they would come apart. Although we too are anointed with power, we are but human, and so are unable to cope with the depletion that takes place in the exercise of that power.
To God be the Glory!