Psalm 131:1-3
A song of ascents. Of David.
1My heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 27:4-5
House of the LORD
4 One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.
Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary,who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Matthew 15:21-28
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Luke 7:36-50
Forgiving Much and Loving Much
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
John 20:24-29
Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
There are some things in life that cannot be rushed...But as we go through life, it does seem to pass by very quickly...When we get busy, we often feel rushed and sometimes stressed...I think Martha was feeling this way when she was working hard to prepare things for the upcoming people who might be coming over, and was preoccupied with her preparations that had to be made...Jesus wants us to slow down and look to Him not only to be calm and quieted, but to learn not to rush things -even though He has the power to speed up the processes of life itself...Jesus never taught us to rush through life...He teaches us to be concentrated on what is important in life...Let us be like Mary and never take our eyes and focus off what is important...
When Jesus was on earth, He made healing and His healings of others look easy...Jesus could heal in an instant, when and if He wants or wanted to...He often healed people instantly...However, healing someone is not easy, and healings often take time...The Canaanite woman (in the above passages) is persistent and will not let Jesus ignore her pleas to have Him heal her daughter...She understood what He could do for her daughter...It was getting Him to help her was her big concern...The mother is persistent and the daughter gets healed at that very moment...The healing is immediate and rushed (and appears easy for Him)...Another of His teachings, but in a different vain, is Jesus teaching us about forgiveness...He teaches us to forgive others, and the more we can forgive, the better and more we can love...Jesus could forgive another in an instant with the kind of Love, He possesses (because He Loves so much)...But, for us, forgiveness is not easy, and many times for us to forgive others it takes time (often a long time)...Some things for man cannot be rushed, even though we may want them to be...His thoughts on forgiving and loving sound easy...
What Jesus makes look easy in Love, healing, and forgiveness are actually not easy...Often, if not most of the time, love, healing, and forgiveness cannot be rushed...Love, a healing, forgiving others are great teachings and true teachings by Him, but to us, they most of the time are neither instant, nor immediate, nor easy...Even though we may need and want to be healed quickly, we learn most healings cannot be rushed...And even though we might try to love someone quickly and have love at first sight, love often takes time...The same can be said of forgiving others...Seldom are we able to forgive someone quickly...If someone has brought on a deep hurt for us, or our family, or a friend, we seem to need time before we can forgive...Forgiving and healing, especially can become a long and drawn out process that takes time for us, here on earth...We must be persistent in our healing practices and also our forgiving practices, and realize, for us, they are quite necessary -but can take time...And in trying to forgive your own self of something, doing it prematurely may not actually work to well -you may need some time to reflect on what happened, and learn from it...Just to get an event or events behind you, so you can just get on with your life, usually does not work...This is not a spiritual acceptance and can be a form of denial, and may deepen a wound, instead of healing it...
When the Psalmist is in trouble he seeks the LORD...He turns to God...He seeks shelter inside the the temple, the sacred tent, (now) the Son of the Blessed God...David tells us to calm down and quiet ourselves, by putting our hope in the LORD...David's Great-Great Grandson has replaced the temple of worship and we can go to Him with our sufferings, our healing problems...He is right there on His knees with us, when we are down on ours...We can go to Him, when we need assistance to forgive others...Believing in Him gives us this hope, that we can work through an extended process, because He was flogged, nailed, then wounded, and died on the cross for us...Jesus, at anytime could have gotten his arrest, torture and dying on the cross done, in a matter of seconds or minutes...He did not...He took on a man's body to die like a Man for our sins...He did not rush through His death, and take the less painful way out...We can look to Him and know that even the Great Saint, the Doubting Thomas, a man just like us (the ones who have doubts), wanted to touch His healed wounds and nail holes and marks (to believe in Him), that were made because of us...The promise of the resurrection from His death on the cross offers an eternal healing and a great hope...It can make us want to say and shout, my LORD and my GOD...And He reminds us, that blessed are those who have not seen Him, after His death, and still believe...