Faithbase

Ashes to Beauty, Day One. The Beans, or the Background. The Gospels are the accounts of Jesus' life and ministry. Throughout these accounts, we read stories of his miraculous healings, one of which we'll look at today. The Verse, Matthew Chapter 8, Verses 1 through 3. When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said, be clean. Immediately, he was cleansed of his leprosy. The Steam, what does this mean to me and how can I apply it to my life today? In Jesus' day, to have leprosy meant that you were unclean. Since it was a highly contagious disease, lepers were forced to live on the outskirts of town and cover their face, yelling unclean if they got close to anyone who didn't have it. They were left to live isolated, painful, and lonely lives. While we don't have a painful disease, many of us can feel like we wear a scarlet letter that announces some inferiority in us that makes us feel like outcasts in our own society. Maybe you don't look like the other women in your social circle. Maybe, like me, you struggle with body image and constantly compare your waistline to the women you're around. Maybe you feel like you have bad mom written across your forehead because your toddler is unruly or your teenager is always in trouble or in some way you just fail to measure up to Pinterest-worthy mom status. Maybe you feel like others can see your struggling marriage, the secret fights, the struggles, the financial distress you try so hard to hide from the outside world. Whatever it is, you just know if someone looked in your eyes long enough, they'd be able to see it all. Feeling different, isolated, even if you isolate yourself purposely, it's a lonely feeling. As I read this story, I came to see that in the ashy moments, as I'll call them throughout this series, but in those times when it seems like everything is bleak, gray, or destroyed even, God is still there. We are not alone in our private struggles. When society's standards of perfection cause us to go into isolation, Jesus so desperately wants to reach out and touch us, to reach out and heal us. This story is careful to highlight a super important point. Out of his unending love for this man, Jesus took a huge risk and touched him. He provided the healing this leper so desperately needed, setting aside any fear of becoming ill himself. But there's something that happens before Jesus reaches out that we need to pay attention to. The man with leprosy came before Jesus and asked. We have to make ourselves vulnerable. We have to face up to the fact that we do feel isolated, that there is a problem. We have to get outside of our comfort zones and boldly ask Jesus for healing. One of my biggest problems, the reason I fail to get better, is because I don't like to admit that I'm not okay. I don't like to admit that I have secret troubles or struggles in my heart. I encourage you today to take some time to really reflect on what troubles your heart. It may be buried so deep in there, you can't even identify it anymore. So take the time you need to discover where you struggle, what it is that you beat yourself up about, and invite Jesus into that place. Kneel before him and boldly claim, Lord, make me clean.