Are you desperate enough?

To be desperate means you feel urgency with little to no hope. When was the last time you felt desperate? 

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When God’s only Son Jesus came down from the mountain with Peter, James and John, “a great crowd met him,” (Lk. 9:37), but in the mass of people a desperate man found a way to be heard and “cried out, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child'” (v. 38). Desperation pushed past the crowd right to Jesus. 

The man’s only son was being constantly plagued by a demon, causing the boy to be gripped with convulsing, screaming, and foaming at that mouth. The desperate dad said of his son that the demon “shatters him, and will hardly leave him” (v.39).  The father knew the cause of the pain, and he could see the impact, but he was powerless to change it. Life often includes struggles we feel, with causes we know, but are powerless to change. 

Before he became desperate enough to cry out to Jesus, the man had appealed to the disciples, and they failed to heal the boy. It’s in our nature to turn to our earthly options to try and solve our problems, but when we get desperate enough, we cry out to Jesus.

Christmas time is notorious for stirring up suffering, disappointment, and even depression, hidden behind tinsel and living Christmas trees and martini glasses. Norman Rockwell and Hallmark Channel and songs about coming home for Christmas distract us, but the window panes of real life are not only frosted; they’re dirty.

As our disappointments take hold, may we make room in the crowd of “holiday stuff” to cry out to Jesus for healing and help and hope.  Making room for Jesus reveals the majesty of God!