Coming Out of the Crowd
I recently told a friend that following God is hard because you frequently go against conventional wisdom. He responded, “Sometimes conventional wisdom is an excuse for unbelief.”
God chooses and calls people out of the world system to be His own peculiar people. (1 Peter 2:9) This “coming out” to become new creations in Christ has always appealed to me. We are called out of the world to form a new community-the church.
We also need to come out of some church groups. I’ve never liked the crowed because I don’t want what the crowd gets.
It is not hard to predict what happens to people who hang with the crowd.
I began to see a life beyond the crowd when I studied the Bible over forty years ago. My Bible’s heroes were anything but conformists and predictable. More noble influences separated them from the pack.
I soon understood that possibilities abound for born again believers. Nicodemus was at a loss when Jesus told him you must be born again to see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3-7) Jesus went on the tell him:
The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
The Apostle Paul said this: “For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.” (Colossians 1:13)
When I entered Fort Drum in June 1991, I’d been a part of the U.S. Army -a distinctly different community- for 14 years. Things change immediately once you take the oath to serve.
While I was still subject to federal laws, tax codes, etc., I entered a new legal and financial framework and a new health care system. I had immediate access to resources that previously were not available.
You entered a new health care system when you were born again. Heavenly resources became available to you that you could not access previously.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. -Psalms 139:13-14
Here the psalmist worships God for the meticulous detail He took in forming his body and physical features. God used the same attentiveness in designing you.
No one can offer a better wellness plan for you than your Creator. No one can better diagnose your condition or prescribe a more precise pathway to healing than Jesus, the Great Physician.
Recall that when Jesus healed people and cast out demons to set them free, He sought no notoriety. (Mark 7:6) Nothing has changed.
The Great Physician frequently heals us through natural processes like nutrition, exercise, and medical science. Many do not realize that it is Jesus at work in these processes.
There are also times when Jesus chooses to work through supernatural means to make us whole. In these instances, He often leaves divine “fingerprints” to let us know that He touched us.
Divine fingerprints include reversals in your medical condition that defy scientific explanation. God’s fingerprints are also evident in healings that result from the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the laying on of hands, prayer, etc.
Hearing the voice of God is critical in receiving healing from both natural and supernatural processes.
Sometimes we need to do exactly what the doctor tells us. On other occasions, God will challenge us to pass on conventional wisdom and trust Him for His prescribed path to healing.
How does one know what to do? Ask the Lord for wisdom and follow the direction where you sense the peace of God is most evident.
Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice. Jesus also said that the Holy Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth.
I strongly recommend that you come away from the crowd and nurture the ability to hear God’s voice before you arrive at a point of crisis. The more you hear and obey His voice, the greater distance God is going to place between you and the crowd.
We cannot afford to get health decisions wrong. Come out from the crowd to hear Him more clearly. Jesus wants to lead you along His prescribed path to wellness. God Bless! Press On!! Kevin
