Unclean, Unclean, This is what the Lepers would cry out as they worked their way around the city so that people would know they were contagious and unclean with a disease that affected the skin. Just yesterday I learned that I have shingles. It is a painful and highly contagious skin disease that stems from the nerve root. Now I'm not being shunned, (ok maybe a little) and it is not life threatening (even though it hurts), and I don't know what it feels like to have a disease like leprosy with no cure, because I have antiviral medicines that will help it go away, but having shingles makes me stop and think how it must have felt to be ostracized by society, to be shunned and avoided at all costs. The sad thing is, there are still millions of people that suffer from this and other skin diseases around the world that don't have access to medicine or relief from the intense pain that it comes with. They contract these diseases and live with the reality that it is the new way of life for them, no hope, no cure and no relief.
I know that in a few short weeks things for me will go back to normal, and life will go on. But for hundreds of thousands around the world, they will suffer quietly because their voice is not heard and they have no means for the medicine needed to cure them. I pray for them tonight, I pray that God the Father will put in their path the means and the ability to be healed. I pray for the sick and the poor, the fatherless and the widow. I pray for those who are persecuted and for those who are lost. Father God will you heal your people, provide for them peace in the midst of suffering and joy amongst the sorrow.
I serve a great and mighty God who has created all that I see, who sustains life and also calls us to his throne. Father expand my territories and deepen my horizons. Help me to not be selfish or self centered but to pray continually for those who are less fortunate than I.
Thank you for the blessings of my life and the ability to change someone else's.
Amen
