In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. Acts 14:8-10.

Jesus did not commit Himself to them . . . for He knew what was in man. John 2:24-25.

May the God of peace . . . equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him. Hebrews 13:20-21.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 97: They took counsel to put Him to death. Psalm 31:13: For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life. And, Matthew 27:1; John 11:53: Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death. So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

I watched last night on the news the coverage of a Senate Covid hearing questioning Dr. Fauci, the former physician and Chief Medical Advisor to the President, who served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984-2022. For perspective, I looked up how many deaths during the Covid pandemic. Over 7.11 million officially confirmed globally. Over 1.23 million in the U.S. Then for further perspective, I looked up the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic which killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The Black Death (plague) killed an estimated 75-200 million worldwide during its 14th-century peak (1346-1353). I was angered listening to the questioning that seemed so partisan and yet there are real problems in our country today that the divisiveness of our political parties seems incapable of working together to solve.

The beauty of reading Scripture is the perspective it gives for what is truly important for all of us. The second Scripture verse cited above was from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. He wrote what we need to see today in all the judging and condemning in politics, and indeed our own hearts, that Jesus knew was in mankind: “There is only one Being who can completely satisfy to the absolute depth of the hurting human heart, and that is the LORD Jesus Christ. Our LORD is so obviously uncompromising with regard to every human relationship because He knows that every relationship that is not based on faithfulness to Himself will end in disaster. Our LORD trusted no one, and never placed His faith in people, yet He was never suspicious or bitter. Our LORD’S confidence in God, and in what God’s grace could do for anyone, was so perfect that He never despaired, never giving up hope for any person. If our trust is placed in human beings, we will end up despairing of everyone.”

Jesus healed people to the condemnation of those who did not understand. So did Paul. Both were condemned and killed. Both healed anyway trusting Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. In prayer this morning when I couldn’t shake my anger at those hearings yesterday, He reminded me to love without finding fault – trusting Him. I can’t stop the sins of this world but I can choose to love trusting God for the healing He alone will bring. Do not judge! Leave all judgment to God. Let His love rule in my own heart as I trust Him. And the key is trusting God because we are drowning in all that is wrong in this fallen world. God heals anyway! And it begins where it must in individual hearts turned to Him. So instead of choosing to stay angry which changes nothing especially in my own heart, I prayed for each person there that they would turn to God and seek His peace helping them, because He can and He will! And that is the key. God loves them and you and me. May the God of peace equip you with all you need for doing His will. May He produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to Him! Can you imagine when every good thing pleasing to God is in every heart?

***You have made us for Yourself, O LORD, and our heart is restless until it rests in You. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430).***