Focus on the Blessing: Story of the Ten Lepers

Every day, all day long, we must look for the positives.  We must seek them out and be determined to find them.  The voice of the world is overwhelmingly negative, especially right now.  What is screaming in our face often hides what is sweetly whispering in our ear.  But if we move toward the silence, we can hear it.

And move we must.

There are more positive things happening in the world every single day than all the negative things piled up together in one giant heap.  There are more positives happening in our daily moment-by-moment lives than we can even try to comprehend!  We just, unfortunately, miss most of it.

Why is that?

The giant heap of negatives has the loudest voice, and we are drawn to it.  We are pulled in by the drama of it all.  Bad news is designed to hook us, and fear is the bait.  Once we’re caught up in the loud voice of the negative, we’ve opened the door to stress, burdens, and strife.  And where there is strife, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:16 KJV).

But the beautiful things that happen around us all the time have no need to shout.  For those who want to see them, they are evident.  What’s truly speaking here, if we pay close attention, is the still, small voice of the Lord.  He is always, always speaking and we have the great privilege of tuning in to His voice whenever we so desire!  We can have as much, or as little, of God as we want.  It’s up to us.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

Philippians 4:4

Story of the Ten Lepers

There’s a story in the Bible about ten men who suffered with leprosy (Luke 17).  When Jesus entered their town, and when they saw Him, all ten of the men cried out to Him for help.  They said, “Jesus! Master! Have mercy on us!”  Jesus saw the men and responded with, “Go show yourselves to the priest.” 

Now, in both the Old and New Testaments, when you were healed of leprosy, you were to go and show yourself to the priest to verify your healing so you could be declared “clean” and re-enter society.  What a great day this would be!! 

So, in Jesus’ simple statement of “go show yourself to the priest,” He was really saying, “You’re about to be HEALED!”  And that’s exactly what happened!  The men were not healed before they started walking, but healing came AFTER they stepped out in faith. 

We don’t know what reaction most of the men had to being healed.  Out of the ten men who had been cleansed from their leprosy, only one returned to thank Jesus for what He had done… and he came back SHOUTING!! He fell down at Jesus’ feet and cried out!!  “Praise God! Thank you! Thank you!”

The men had ALL cried out to Jesus when they needed healing… when their circumstances were overwhelmingly negative… but only ONE cried out in praise and thanksgiving to God AFTER he had been healed. Jesus exclaimed, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

I would venture to say that the one “foreigner,” a Samaritan man, probably wasn’t a “religious” man… sitting right next to Jesus, but never really knowing Him.  This man had received unmerited favor, complete healing, and the redemption of his life… and he did not take these things for granted. He was overflowing with thankfulness and he allowed nothing to hinder his expression of thanks to God.

Through Christ, have we not also received the same? 

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.  Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Colossians 2:6-7

Thankfulness is Key.

A grateful heart brings beauty and sweetness to every situation.  When faced with a barrage of negativity, thankfulness protects the heart and mind and allows us to praise God in the midst of even the most dire circumstances. 

Remember Paul and Silas in the jail (Acts 16)?  They had been falsely accused, severely beaten, and thrown into a prison cell.  And yet they sang hymns of praise to the Lord in the middle of the darkest night… because they were thankful for all that Jesus had done for them!   As a result, prison doors were miraculously opened and a Roman soldier came to know Christ!  All because Paul and Silas refused to keep silent in their gratitude.

The Bible tells us in Philippians 4 to “fix our thoughts” on whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, and lovely.  We are to think about things that are “excellent and worthy of praise.”  When we go about our days, we can determine to pick out the things that are beautiful and sweet, and THANK GOD for those things!  Don’t let the good moments pass without saying, “Praise God! Thank you! Thank you!”  Let your heart be joyful even in the smallest of things!

Whatever issues may be troubling you today… whether they are big or small… put those things into the hands of God and ask Him to show you all the ways you can be thankful in your situation.  Ask Him to show you where He is in your circumstances – seek Him out.  The Father is ever-present in and through His Word, so crack it open, speak it out, and let it bring you peace.  The Lord is always with us.  He never leaves us or forgets about us.  He holds us in the palm of His hand.