what he really needed most of all was a word from the Lord. When things start withering in your life, when things start drying up, and when the flow is interrupted in your life, it is not the time to stay away from the Lord. It’s not the time to stop reading your Bible. And it’s not the time for you to disconnect from your local church. When things stop flowing, that’s the time you need to bust the doors wide open! It’s the time you need to hunger for the Word of God.
The Bible says when Jesus entered into the synagogue to teach, there was a man already there. He was withered, but his withered condition didn’t stop him from wanting to receive a word from the Lord. His condition didn’t allow him the luxury of being late. His condition didn’t allow him the luxury to miss worship. His condition had him in the right place and at the right time.
Whenever things start drying up in your life and you are confronted with withering conditions, you have to be cautious of your wants. You have to be careful of your desires, because the Devil works through your desires. He works through what you long for. But what this man wanted, more than anything else, was a word from the Lord. Obviously, he had lived long enough to know the value of God’s Word. One word from God can turn your life around. One word can change your countenance. One word can lift up your head!
Scripture supports this claim. Read 2 Chronicles, chapter 20 when you have time. It tells the story of a king by the name of Jehoshaphat. In this passage, you will discover that Jehoshaphat was in trouble. He had been hanging around the wrong people and discovered five nations were preparing to attack him. And when the word came to Jehoshaphat that these armies had raised up against him, the Bible says, Jehoshaphat went to God in prayer, on his knees.
He prayed, “Lord, we don’t have any might against this great company. And Lord, we don’t know what to do, but the one thing You need to know is our eyes are fixed on You!”
The Lord spoke back to Jehoshaphat and said, “Listen, Jehoshaphat. You don’t have to be afraid of this company that’s coming up against you. The battle is not yours, but the battle belongs to the Lord!”
Jehoshaphat rose up from his knees, gathered his praise team and took the praise team to battle before his army. When the enemy started advancing against them, Jehoshaphat and his team broke out in praise, because he understood that a good praise could defeat a good plot any day.
You need to understand this in your own life. God has already given you a Word and the Word is, “The battle is not yours, but the battle belongs to Me!” And if you believe with all of your heart, the right Word will change your life around and you don’t have to wait for the manifestation. The moment God gives you a declaration that everything is going to be all right, that’s the time to start shouting.
You’re reading this record of Jehoshaphat, but the truth of the matter is— you are your own witness. The reason you continue to give God praise is because you received a Word. The reason you leave the doctor’s office with cancer still in your body, yet you still give God praise is because your Word is: “All sickness is not unto death!” The reason you can praise God when you are behind on your bills is because you received a word from the Lord that He is in the process of turning some things around for you. Despite the dating disasters and courting chaos, you understand the value of a Word from the Lord.
The second lesson the man from the gospel of Luke teaches is that you cannot let your withered condition affect your willingness to worship. At some point during the worship service, this man started worshiping because Jesus said to him, “Rise and stand up.” This is because the man was in a prostrate position. While he was in synagogue, he listened to the Word and something happened. The Word he received pushed him into the position of worship. Nobody had to tell him to worship. He received a Word from the Lord and the Word led him to worship.
You know when worship is real, because a real worshiper doesn’t need any prompts. A real worshiper doesn’t need music. A real worshiper doesn’t need participation from others. In fact, a real worshiper doesn’t even need to be in a church. A real worshiper can be in the kitchen, cleaning chicken or cutting up collard greens, and think about the goodness of the Lord, and the spoon will go one way and the hand will go another way. Real worshipers don’t need anybody to pump them up, but when they think about how good God has been, they come to a posture of worship.
Yet, there will always be people who judge the worship and praise of others. They will try to criticize your praise and worship, but if they don’t understand what you’ve been through, they will never understand why you worship the way you do. Never let anyone stop you from giving God glory and honor, especially when you have been assured of His goodness in your life.
There is something impressive about the man from the gospel of Luke. His hand was withered, but despite that fact, he still wanted a word. He was still willing to worship. But then something strange happened. While this man was on his face worshiping the Lord, the Lord said something to him. He said, “Rise up, stand forth in the midst.”
Imagine this: This man, with a withered hand, is in the temple and while he is worshiping, Jesus makes him stand in front of everybody to be a witness to the folks who were watching. Jesus makes this poor man stand in front of a crowd of people. It’s interesting the Lord would do this, because if anyone has an issue, or is different in any way, the last thing he or she wants to do is stand in front of people, as if on display.
If you are withered, the last thing you want other folks to know is that you’re withered. When you’re hurting, the last thing you want folks to know is that you’re hurting. If your child is in trouble, the last thing you want folks to know is that you’ve got some family issues. In fact, most people would rather appear like every I’s dotted and every T’s crossed in their lives. Nobody wants others to know how withered they are! But, guess what? Every now and then, God will put some people on Front Street to expose just how withered they truly are. God will put people on display to show the world that although they may not have it all together, even in the midst of what they’re going through, they still have the audacity to raise their hands and give Him glory.
Perhaps this is a reminder or an encouragement to you today. You need to know, despite your current circumstance or condition, there is still enough in you to give God the praise and worship He is due, and He rightly deserves. In fact, this may very well be the key to keeping your sanity. Research indicates that when a person has reached his or her full capacity for handling stress and calamity, there must be some form of release. Debbie Allen, in her role as a counselor on the famed TV show, It’s a Different World, summed it up best when she offered the solution: “Relax! Relate! Release!”
In verse ten of the Luke passage, the Lord says, “Stretch out your hand.” When you look carefully at the passage, you will note that the man did not stretch out the hand that was well. Rather, he stretched out the hand, which was withered. Perhaps the only reason he stretched out the withered hand was because he believed, even though it was withered, it could function again. This young brother believed that if the Lord told him to stretch it out, his hand would have the ability to work once more. He never lost his faith in God. He had the unmitigated gall to believe the Lord could still turn things around. He knew, despite a bad or withered condition, things didn’t have to stay that way.
The text says that when he stretched out his bad hand, it was restored and looked as whole as the other one. In essence, God worked a miracle so awesome that when this young man held both hands out, he couldn’t tell which one had been withered. That’s just how awesome God is! God can let you go through something, and bring you out of it to the point where folks cannot tell what you’ve been through! Many times, people don’t understand your praise. They’re looking at how you appear right now. They just don’t know everything you’ve been through. But when God brings you back, He restores you wholeheartedly. Your biggest praise in life should be founded upon the fact that the God you serve is able to turn some things around. To God
