November 16, 2021
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Life has a lot of disrupting sounds, huh? And you can learn to tune a lot of them out: sirens screaming, telephones ringing, TVs blaring, trains rumbling. But there's one sound almost impossible to ignore - a baby's crying. If there's a baby in your house and he starts crying, what should you do? Just yell, "Nuisance!" and shut the door? Turn up the music? Yell back? Not unless you're a hopeless rookie at handling babies. No, you know the crying isn't the problem. It's what's causing the crying. Pointing at the baby and saying, "Stop that!" probably isn't going to make a lot of difference. See, the crying isn't going to stop until their little tummy is filled ... or until he gets the relief that only a good burp can give ... or until you get the baby out of that mess. Yep, the crying is a nuisance, but the need behind the crying - that's the real issue.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Nuisance Or Need?"
Our Word for today comes from the Word of God from Luke 18:35. "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting at the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.' He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'"
"Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' 'Lord, I want to see,' he replied." The Bible goes on to tell us that he received his sight and he followed Jesus. And all the people who had been trying to get this nuisance to shut up, started praising God for what He had done.
When the people of Jericho saw this blind man, they saw a nuisance, and they told him, "Stop crying, man!" You and I are surrounded by people who are crying, not with the howls of a baby, but they cry with their actions, with their attitude. Frankly, some of the people in our world, even in our family, seem like a nuisance sometimes, don't they?
But where others see a nuisance, Jesus sees a need! He goes to the need behind the blind man's crying. Now, in your life there are obnoxious people, right? There are mean people, folks who demand a lot of your time and attention; complainers; problem people. Honestly, there are people, who for one reason or another, well, you'd just like to close the door on like almost everyone else has.
And you will unless you see them through the eyes of Jesus. Then you'll see the need behind the deeds, like a mother who looks past a baby's crying to find out where it hurts. Usually, a person is a nuisance because he or she has needs no one has ever stopped to meet. Would you do what Jesus did for this annoying blind man? Would you stop for that person?
They may need someone who takes time to listen to them, someone who makes them feel safe, who praises the good in them, someone to notice them and treat them like they matter. They're crying out for someone who will reach inside and find out what's making them bleed, who will include them. That crying person is a hurting person - a wounded person, but you can be part of God's healing in that person's life.
God's put us here to do what Jesus would do if He were in that situation. He's assigned you to a place where there are some hurting people, people who are crying because they need someone to get at the need that's been making them cry maybe for a long time. Would you be their Jesus-person? When others see a nuisance, you look for the need and you stop to heal them like your Jesus.