One of my all-time favorite routines is the one from
Abbott and Costello called Niagara Falls (Slowly I Turned.) The routine features a man recounting the day
he took revenge on his enemy, becoming so engrossed in his own tale that he
attacks the innocent listener to whom he is speaking. The attacker comes to his
senses, only to go berserk again when the listener says something that triggers
the old memory again. The implication is
that the words have an unpleasant association in the character's past. While the
other character merely acts bewildered, the crazed character relives the
incident, uttering the words, "Slowly
I turned...step by step...inch by inch...," as he approaches the
stunned onlooker. The character then apologizes, admitting his irrational reaction
to the mention of those certain words. This follows with the victim innocently
repeating the words, sparking the insane reaction all over again.
Our passage is about a father who approached Jesus with a
story about his demon-possessed son. No
doubt this man had been to many people in the past for healing. I am confident he had told his story to
anyone who would listen. How many times
had he told this story to no avail…no healing…hope dashed by failure? Don't you know that he had watched others receive
healing in the past...the sting of it all. In telling Jesus his story in hopes of
receiving healing, his story slowly turns to doubt. ‘But if
you can…’ Mark 9:22. He believed
that Jesus could heal but his unbelief was surrounding whether He would
heal. Slowly he turned from belief to
doubt and step by step watched hope crumble.
But Jesus stopped the story and called him out on his unbelief. Things would be very different this time and
healing would come.
I know sometimes I can be that crazed person who slowly
turns to disbelief. Like the father in
our passage, I know God has the capability but will God act…will He heal…and
step by step I begin to focus on the future in fear. My triggers are words like cancer…relapse…death.
It is so easy to turn away from our belief in the goodness of God. Inch by inch we allow negative thoughts to
creep into the stories of our mind…will my spouse leave me…will we get our
healing…will I ever have a child…will I lose my job?
We must be 2 Co 10:5 people with steadfast belief and
faith in our words during our challenges.
‘We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take
captive every thought.’ The story we
tell in public should match what we believe in private. When we allow negative fears to dominate our
present situation, we become irrational in predicting our future outcomes. We must take these old triggers captive and
replace them with our belief in God who is love…who is good…who is all-knowing,
even if we don't understand His ways.
By turning these thoughts over to God, He will infuse His peace and
comfort into our challenging circumstances.
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