Opposition is Opportunity in Disguise

The gospel stories weren't penned just for our entertainment. They were written to teach us about Jesus, His life, and His ministry. Each story reveals something about who He is, about His character, and about His heart. Each story gives us glimpses of how He related to people and our reactions to the stories reveals stuff about our own hearts and our relationship with Him. One of the stories I have been pondering lately is the story about a paralyzed man found in Mark 2.

Word of Jesus and His miracles had spread and when Jesus and his disciples came to Peter's house, a crowd soon descended there to see the miracle-working Teacher - the Teacher whose words were a soothing balm to some and a strong irritant to others. The large crowds made it difficult for the neediest people to get close enough to Jesus. One of the neediest that day was a paralyzed man who lived life on a stretcher, but he had four loyal friends who picked up his stretcher and headed to Peter's house. However, because of the crowd, they could not get near the Teacher. So, the men devised a plan and carried their friend up the stairs to the roof and began digging through tiles and dirt, making a hole large enough that they could fit their friend and his stretcher through it.

I find myself wondering what the man thought as they approached the house. Did his heart sink when he saw the crowd? Did his anger rise as he was reminded of his limitations? Did he feel hopeless and immediately resign himself to living from the perspective of the stretcher? What did he think when his friends began to climb the stairs and dig through the roof? Did he feel loved or was he embarrassed by their actions? Did he believe he was worth the hassle or would he have preferred they not to make a scene? Was his friends' faith beginning to take root in his heart? I don't know the answers to the questions, but I do know that I want to be the kind of friend this man had. I want to be the person who sees beyond the hopelessness of a situation. I want to be one who believes that the more hopeless the situation seems the bigger the opportunity to bring someone closer to Jesus. I want to be that friend who persists and persists until I have done all that it takes to help a friend land at the feet of Jesus.

I also find myself wondering what Jesus thought as the men began to dig through the roof. Did He raise His voice to be heard above their digging or did He stop and wait patiently, knowing the roof-digging crew was providing His sermon illustration that night? Did He need to calm Peter and remind Him that holes could be fixed? Did He smile as He brushed away the dirt that was settling on His shoulders? Did rise and help lower the man in or did they drop him at His feet?

The Bible makes it clear that not every illness is a result of sin. It may have been in this case that something he had done to another had resulted in his paralysis. It may have been that Jesus knew the crowd usually associated illness and handicaps with sin and was exposing their belief. Or it may have been that Jesus could see the burden of regret and the shame that was residing in the man's heart and knew that the man needed to be spiritually healed more than physically. So, He told him sins were forgiven.

Jesus then turned his attention to the religious leaders--the skeptics who thought He was a blasphemer for telling the man his sins were forgiven. I love it that Jesus both exposed and confronted their thoughts by asking, "Which is easier to do--tell a man he is forgiven or tell him to take up his bed and walk?" He then turned back to the man and said, "Get up, take your stretcher and go home."

What ran through the paralytic's mind when the Savior commanded him to walk? Did he look around at the crowd that wouldn't let him through the door? Did he glace at the religious leaders who disapproved of what Jesus was telling him and feel conflicted? Did he immediately respond in faith and jump up or dance a jig? Did he look down first, expecting to see atrophied legs and find them healthy and strong? Or did he have to do the impossible and try to stand up on atrophied muscled legs for the miracle to take place? I don't know, but I can relate to having to demonstrate faith and obedience in the face of people who opposed me and what God called me to do. It was terribly hard and it sure didn't feel safe. However, choosing God in the face of that opposition strengthened my faith, gave me opportunities to see Him work in new ways, and opened a new direction for me to do the ministry God had called me to.

That day, Jesus graciously chose to do a deeper work in the heart of the crippled man so not only his body was healed, but his heart as well. Jesus used the opposition He faced to publically affirm His deity as he exposed the hidden thoughts of men, established that He had the authority to forgive sin, heal a broken body, and called Himself, "The Son of Man."

I fear that we often view the hard as proof that God doesn't love us and we let the hard paralyze us. What if the hard--our past traumas, our broken hearts, the adversity we experience, the weaknesses we have, our struggle to fully trust, the sin that trips us up, the people and the demons who come against us--is what the Lord will use to reveal Himself to this broken and fallen world? Would not our faith and our joy grow exponentially if we just believe God is good and that the opposition we face is nothing more than disguised opportunities for Him to do His greatest work? 

Learning to be Kind to All

"And the Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, 

but be kind to all, 

able to teach, patient when wronged, 

with gentleness correcting those who are 

in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance 

leading to the 

knowledge of the truth, 

and they may come to their senses and escape from the 

snaire of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." 

2 Timothy 3:24-26

Have you ever been talking to someone about God’s Word. only to find that he or she wants to argue with you about the truth?  If not, how would you handle it if you did?  Even more importantly how would you handle it if the person claimed to be a believer? That was the situation Timothy found himself in as a young pastor. In this passage Paul tells Timothy how he should relate to those people who were in opposition to the truth he was teaching. I have noticed people who disagree with doctrine often look for things they can use to negate another person’s view. Sometimes they say things that could cast doubt on a pastor’s teaching, especially if the comment were made to a new believer who was not grounded in truth or someone who is struggling in their relationship with God. The advice Paul gave Timothy is very applicable to us when we find ourselves in relationships with quarrelsome people.  

Let’s look at the word “bondservant.” In Paul’s day a bondservant was someone who had been a slave for a period of time in order to pay off a debt. At the end of the debt they were to be set free. There were some people who had been indebted to a benevolent master and when they were set free they would pierce their ear as a sign that they were choosing to stay with their master so they could serve him out of love and gratitude. That is the kind of people we want to be. Understanding Christ bought us with His blood our of the slave market of sin. He reconciled us to the Father, which can bring about a gratefulness that creates in His people a desire to serve Him out of love rather than obligation. 

Next, Paul tells Timothy that as a bondservant he must not be quarrelsome. It is interesting that this advice was given in light of quarrelsome people opposing Timothy’s teaching. He advises Timothy to be kind, able to teach, and patient when he was wronged. Notice that he does not tell Timothy to ignore the offence. He says he is to correct those who oppose him, but he should do it with gentleness. When somebody snaps at us or opposes our opinions and words, what is our natural response? What is their natural response when we snap back at them?  When we react at an emotional level, it seems our pride gets wounded and we cling to our opinions even harder, making us less open and less teachable. Paul was pointing out, that by maintaining a gentle kind spirit, Timothy could remove himself as the point of rebellion and increase the chances that the truth he spoke would be heard. He was also reminding Timothy that even though he was God’s mouthpiece, it was up to God to change hearts and minds. 

Lastly, he points out that people who oppose the truth are people who believe the lies of Satan. He lays traps for people and then uses them to do his will. When we are face to face with someone, we want to remember the real enemy is not the person, it is Satan or his demons. By keeping this in mind our pride quiets and we can gently tell the truth and then let their battle be with the Lord, not us. I don’t know if you are like me, but sometimes when I am frustrated by a situation in which I feel powerlessness, I find myself projecting anger toward someone who has nothing to do with the situation. When our oldest son was young he had a friend come over to play. She was about 8 years old and had an accident on a bicycle. When her dad came to pick her up she expressed strong anger at him because she was hurt. We were both surprised, but we realized she was really only angry that he was not there to comfort her. We might be facing a quarrelsome person who is in the same boat. They may have been hurt and Satan may be taking advantage of their pain to get them to argue with God or the person who hurt them and their anger gets displaced on us. Being kind and gentle in the presence of a quarrelsome person is not easy! It is a supernatural act that can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Is there a quarrelsome person in your life right now? How have you been dealing with the person? What could you do differently in light of today’s Scripture? How hard would it be to be kind, patient, and gentle when someone is arguing with you over Scripture or other things you know to be true? I think it might help us if we can remember that the goal is not to win an argument, but to invite the person to repentance and restoration. If we can let go of pride and assume a humble stance, we have a better chance of reaching this godly goal than if we are argumentative. This also prevents us from being used by the Enemy in his efforts to keep the person in bondage. One of the most practical statements we can use with others is, “Help me understand why you believe that.” By using that we remove ourselves from an argument and place ourselves in a situation to learn why a person thinks or feels as he does. Then we know better how to approach him with the truth.  

Prayer: Father we love you and appreciate all that you do for us. Thank you for your instructions on how to relate to people. Help us to be gentle, patient, and kind to people who are trying to pick a quarrel with us. Help us to care more about their hearts than winning an argument. Help us to remember that our real enemy is Satan who is like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour and use for His own purposes.  Amen.