Another month has gone by and I think of all the things that have happened in that time! Almost three months ago, both Galen and I were hit by some health issues we were not expecting. He had a migraine for a week, that resulted in him having 'double vision'. The eye doctors could not see anything wrong with his eyes, so they sent us to the hospital for more tests. We spent the night at the hospital, for further observations. The MRIs, Cat Scans and other tests could not detect anything wrong, but the double vision persisted. The neurologist determined that it was probably a vascular blockage of a nerve behind his neck, going into the brain, that connects to the eyes! The diagnosis was 6th nerve palsy. It was great that they finally figured something out, but they said there was nothing they could do, the problem usually can heal itself in three to six months...so..we had to be patient and wait. In the meantime, many of our friends around the country, and our church family were praying for him. They put him on many prayer chains, which resulted in many other people praying for us, who we don't even know, and for that we are so grateful! At the same time as he was going thru his ordeal I had a problem with my back and neck, which made it necessary for me to go to physical therapy three times a week, and that is another story.
So, why do I want to talk about the Samaritan, mentioned in the Bible? (Luke 17:12-19). Well, because it has to do with being thankful. You see, the story is very interesting. As Jesus was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus have pity on us". Leprosy is still around in some third world countries today, and the people who suffer from it, are still being considered outcasts and they are rejected by their families. Back in Jesus' time, if you had leprosy you were not allowed to be close to others. People thought you were cursed, that you or your family had done something wrong, or sinned in some way and that was the reason of your ailments. Anyway, when Jesus saw them, he said "Go show yourselves to the priests", and as they went, they were cleansed! It was customary then, that if you were sick with something like leprosy and then you were healed, you had to go to the priests, in the Jewish Temple, for them to verify it. So, the ten men, must have had a lot of faith because they had heard of the miracles that Jesus performed, that they didn't wait to be cleansed and THEN go to theTemple, but they started going while they were still sick.
Now, here comes the interesting part. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him. This man was a Samaritan. Why is that important? It is important because the Samaritans were despised by the Jews. The jews did not want to have anything to do with them. Although they were also jewish, they were viewed as pagans. They had intermarried with women from other tribes,who were worshipping other gods. I don't know all the details, but I do know that they were shunned by the jews., and they did not mingle with each other. Samaritans had a bad reputation. Jesus was Jewish, and yet he healed this man, and this man was the ONLY one who came back to thank Him.
Jesus, actually asked his disciples..:"were not all ten cleansed? (of course He knew they were all cleansed). Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he turned to the man and said "Rise and go; your faith has made you well'.
Galen's vision has returned to almost normal in less than the three to six months the doctors were predicting. We are so grateful to all the doctors, and most appreciative to all the people, who we know and don't know, who have been praying for his healing and still continue to do so. Sometimes when unwelcome things happen to us we must have faith and trust that God will help us go through them. Whatever the outcome. We must be inspired by the actions of this man so long ago, and give thanks to God daily for all our blessings, big or small. Thank Him for the accident you missed on the freeway, the rainstorm that you didn't have to drive through, or the doctor appointment that someone rescheduled and you were able to get yours moved up. Be thankful for all the little things, that we take for granted.
I hope you enjoyed the story of the Samaritan.
Enjoy every day, beacuse it is a blessing!
