2218 Worth Stopping For

Have you ever felt like maybe you’re bothering God with your prayers? Like perhaps at this point you’re just annoying with your needs and requests? And maybe you feel ignored or overlooked. Like you’re not worthy or important enough for God to stop everything just for you.

Oh girl, let me tell you something – God will stop everything JUST FOR YOU. You’re that important to him, that valuable, that seen, that known, that heard, and that loved.

GOD IS NOT TOO BUSY FOR YOU. YOU ARE NOT A BURDEN TO YOUR SAVIOR.

Have you ever noticed in the gospels during the early stages of Jesus’ ministry, he would perform a personal miracle for one person and he would instruct them, “don’t tell anyone about this.” That always confused me. Why wouldn’t Jesus want them to tell everyone about his miracles and his power? Why wouldn’t he want the news to spread about who he was?

Wasn’t that the whole point? Spread the news. Tell everyone. But instead, many times we see Jesus telling the healed to keep it secret. Why is that?

Well, I experienced it first hand this past Saturday night at the BIG Life Retreat. Fame brings a crowd. Crowds are hard to navigate. You can’t get anywhere when everyone knows who you are!

Picture this – 25 BIG Life girls all decked out as Dolly Parton. So much hair. So much fringe, rhinestones and sparkles. So much lipstick and balloons strategically placed. We walked the main strip of Gatlinburg, Tennessee as a pack, and the crowds swarmed. Cameras were everywhere. Cars were honking. People lined up for photos.

We got all of 1 block down the strip in a matter of 2 hours. “Dollys, over here – Dollys, wait for us – Dollys, we want a photo too – Dollys, my little girl wants to meet you.” WE. WERE. FAMOUS.

And in this moment, I understood why Jesus would tell the very people he had healed, “don’t tell anyone about this.” If Jesus were really known, if everyone knew he was God in human form, he would never get anywhere. The crowds would be so big and so overwhelming, that he would be bombarded.

Jesus had a mission. He had divine appointments with places to be, miracles to perform, and people to bring along. The crowds would be a hindrance to his mission. Although he was God, he was fully human as Jesus. He required rest. He required refueling. He required quiet time with the Father. Hoards of people shouting his name, circling in for his touch would become unmanageable.

Trust me, this 6 foot tall Dolly got a little taste of it. It was insanely fun for 2 hours, but taking off the wig and popping the balloons brought a welcome return to a quiet life of obscurity.

Jesus was not obscure. The word was spreading. He would perform a miracle for a soul in need whom he met along his journey, instruct them not to tell anyone, but they would be so alive in their healing that they would run out and tell everyone they knew about this man who radically changed their life. The man who gave them sight. The man who made them walk. The man who freed them from their demons.

So now there are crowds. Crowds following Jesus. Crowds shouting his name. Crowds pressing in. Crowds making it hard for Jesus to get where he was going. So many people. So many needs. So many requests.

What if there was one in the crowd who felt their need wasn’t worthy of Jesus? What if there was one in the crowd who felt like a nobody, who had suffered quietly, who had been excluded for so long they became accustom to not being good enough? What would Jesus do for them in the crowd?

Let’s see! In Mark 5, Jesus is being followed by a large crowd. An important man has interrupted Jesus begging for him to come to his house and heal his daughter who was dying. So, Jesus is going with this man. A little girl is dying, Jesus is going.

The crowd follows. They’re pressing in on him. Making it hard for him to move forward. (Again, in my 2 hours as Dolly Parton in downtown Gatlinburg, I understand the pressures of the crowd. If a cheap imitation of Dolly gets that much atte