Focus: Out-of-town Miracle

Text: Mk.8:23

"And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town…"

You are a unique individual. God deals with each person like no one else exists. Paul posed a very pertinent question, where he said, "For who maketh thee to differ from another?" (1Cor.4:7). The obvious answer is God. God made us unique as individuals. As a matter of fact, the word 'individual' means 'uncut,' or 'undivided.' You cannot be divided or cut in two pieces without losing your essence, personality, or peculiarity. Your peculiarity is such that God handles all issues concerning you in unique ways. The miracle bearing your name is not like any other.

A blind man in the town of Bethsaida was brought to the Lord Jesus Christ for His help, and He took the young man out of town before restoring his vision. Why taking him out of town? What's wrong with delivering the man in Bethsaida? I don't think anything was wrong Bethsaida as a place, but to prove how peculiar the man was as an individual, He decided to take him out of his town. He took a long walk with the man. The Lord must have developed a certain degree of rapport with him. He listened to the word of God as they walked together. He must have learned a lot from the Lord. The place where Jesus Christ healed him is not known, but he was uniquely cured of his malady. 

God delights in connecting your miracle to a place. Are you ready to take a walk with Jesus Christ? He chooses how, where and when to touch you. You are unique to God.

In Mark 7, we have the story of another man. He had an impediment of speech and a hearing problem. Mark writes, "And he took him ASIDE from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue" (Mk.7:33). The Lord Jesus Christ took him aside from the crowd. His miracle was not connected to the crowd. 

The crowd is known for noise, confusion, and mob action. Remember the mixed multitude among the Israelites? Remember the multitude crying, "Crucify him, crucify him." God knows how to separate you from the crowd to give you a miracle. The word 'aside' in the Greek is 'idios,' and it means 'different, unique, or apart.' The English words, 'idiot' and 'idiosyncrasy' stem from it. Jesus Christ took the man to a lonely place in order to perform a unique cure on him. He took him out of the crowd and changed his life. Sometimes the miracle you are looking for is not always found in the places where you envisage. 

Some miracles are meant to happen in strange places. Allow God to take you out of town! Allow the God that you serve to take you aside for His supernatural touch.

The Lord Jesus Christ entered a home and found mourners weeping for the death of a young girl. He told them that their tears were meaningless because the girl was only asleep. Mark writes that "they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying" (Mk.5:40). In order to raise the girl from the dead, the Lord asked the crowd to stay outside, for hopeless and helpless mourners cannot inspire hope or faith in others. They lacked the power to raise the dead. Jesus Christ chased them all out, except for His disciples and the girl's parents. They saw the miracle, but they didn't know how it happened. The young girl experienced the miracle of another life in a unique way. Jesus Christ chased away the wrong crowd, for they exuded negative vibes.

You do not need a mass-produced solution. You are not everybody and everybody is not you. Let God handle your case the way He deems fit. Paul, in Eph.3:18, says something remarkable about the love of God. "May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height." Every saint has a unique encounter and testimony of the love of God. The love of God is peculiar for every individual saint. Our experiences of God's love differ one from another. We all have special and specific stories of the love of God. All the saints need to come together to express their variegated impressions of the love of God in ways unique to each person. Some of us are delivered from trouble while others are delivered through the trouble. Our testimonies are differently packaged, but they are nonetheless testimonies of God's power at work in us.

You are a unique individual with unique miracle lined up for you. God is handling your case in His unique way. He is taking you out of town, out of the crowd, and He's taking the crowd of mourners out in order to concentrate on you. Get ready to receive out-of-town miracle - miracle of change, miracle of deliverance, miracle of diverse testimonies, and miracle of laughter and joy. Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter