Developing The Pattern

Reading: Luke 4:38-41

38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them. 40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak. (Luke 4:38-41 NLT)

We tend to think that when Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to leave their fishing boats and be his disciples, it was the first time they were meeting. But in John 1 we see that Jesus met Andrew, Peter, Nathanael, and Philip, just after he was baptized by John in Judea. And here we see Jesus in Simon Peter’s home in Capernaum, sometime before the “calling” incident. And Peter’s mother-in-law! What about Peter’s wife? Did they have kids? What was it like when Jesus began his grand tour a few weeks later and took twelve of his disciples with him?

Here we are at Simon Peter’s house after church. Peter’s mother-in-law is “very sick with a high fever”. Jesus went to her bedside and rebuked the fever and the fever was gone. And she immediately was well enough to get up and prepare a meal for them. So this wasn’t a “take two aspirin and call me in the morning” thing. This was a miracle healing. As the sun set that Sabbath evening so people could be out and about, they brought sick family members to Jesus and he healed every one with a touch of his hand. And demons came out of people at his command!

Now Jesus begins “full time” ministry. He’s not just preaching in the synagogues on Sabbath, but on the streets, by the lakeside, in the markets, on mountainsides, and on the road. He’s developing his pattern of doing ministry, spending time alone in the desert or on the mountain in prayer, getting direction from the Holy Spirit, and launching into his “What’s Next”!

How can we create our own pattern of doing our work, cherishing our quiet time, listening to the Spirit, and then doing our “What’s Next”?

Prayer:

Father, Please show us how to develop our own pattern: Work, quiet, asking, listening, and work again. It seems as if every one of us needs a pattern like that. Help us to discover the pattern appropriate to our personality, our time, and our season. Amen!