A Few Thoughts on Last Resorts:

We are all guilty of it: waiting until the last straw that brakes the proverbial camel’s back before we fall on our faces and offer our problems to the Lord. If our problem is simple, like a slight headache, we can grab a couple of Tylenols or an aspirin. If, however, we receive a bad ex-ray report, it’s a different matter. "Oh God," we proclaim, and beg Him, as a last resort, to intercede.

The fellow at the Pool of Bethesda was like that. He tried for 38 years to receive his healing without results. The Centurion’s servant was ill. I’m sure every effort was made by human means to heal him without results, until he called on Jesus. Even much-loved Lazarus was given up as dead by his sisters who probably administered all kinds of home remedies before sending for Jesus. Then there was that unnamed gentile woman who suffered for 12 years with what is said to have been an issue of blood, probably endometriosis or some similar female malady. I believe she was a gentile since a Jewish woman would not by law be out in public during her menstrual period. Like a leper, she was considered unclean and must remain in seclusion. Having spent her entire lively hood on physicians without relief, as a last resort, she mingled with the crowd and secretly touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. On that occasion, the Lord was on his way to heal Jairus’ 12 year old daughter. Now for Jairus, a leader in the local synagogue to call on Jesus for help, was an act of desperation. But it was his last resort. And the list goes on.

Bottom line? All the above were miraculously healed by Jesus. Although I am guilty of the same omission, it occurs to me that we are admonished by scripture to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. However we in our humanness call on Him only when modern medical measures fail to bring results. Thank you, Lord, for loving and caring for us even though we so often turn to you as a last resort.