Mark 7:31-37
The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man

A couple of years ago I revisited my childhood home and neighborhood park. I was 43 years old at the time. I wandered over to the tree I had climbed many times in my youth, especially as a teenager, when I wanted to be alone and contemplate my life and the world's (mostly my world's) problems. The tree had grown, but I had not (at least not vertically). Before I knew it, I was tumbling down, landing on a teenage friend of our kids who thankfully broke my fall, but could not save my ankle from being sprained.

I was on crutches for two or three weeks (and after this I cut my hand and needed nine stitches). During this time, I grew to appreciate in a small way what disabled people go through. I rode a motorized cart in the grocery store. I couldn't drive for awhile. I had to depend on other people for many things, or ask them to wait for me.

So, here again in Scripture we see Jesus healing a person with another disability. I love how he healed the blind, those who couldn't walk, how he drove demons out of people, and in this case, how he restored hearing and the ability to speak to this man.

More often, our disabilities are invisible. Perhaps we do not see the needs of those around us. Perhaps we don't listen to the cries of those who need help. Perhaps we are silent when we should speak up for righteousness sake. Maybe we don't walk the path he has chosen for us.

Jesus can heal these "disabilities" too. I pray that I may see with His eyes, hear with His ears, speak His words, and walk in His light.

- posted by Suzi @ 6:50 AM