As I drove down Route 202 yesterday, cars were streaking by me on every side. Though I am traveling 63 in a 55 mile per hour zone, you can be certain the rest of the population speeding past my blue little Chevy thinks the speed limit is at least 70.  In typical Philly suburb style, most drivers on the major local highways take the speed limit signs as more of recommendations for speed than actual set laws.

As my music blared through my car speakers, I find myself legs-a-tappin’, head-a-noddin’, and heart-a-singin’ as though the rest of the world can’t see me.  Why is it than when I get in my car, surrounded on all sides by clear glass I have this odd perception that I am suddenly all alone on this planet?  Regardless, I have simply come to the conclusion that I don’t really care what people think when they see me rockin’ out to my tunes.

At the time, I really wasn’t thinking about the words I was singing.  Well, I take that back.   I sort of was.  I loved the message; I loved the hope; I loved the encouragement, especially knowing all the while the message I was singing was foundational truth.  However, the reality of the application of those words in my life was something I hadn’t considered until I opened up my bible this morning to spend time with the Lord.  And then it hit me…

“When you say Go, I’ll Go…”

Great on the surface.  In fact, extremely obvious in it’s simplicity.  When God says “Go”- you do it.  Pretty clear cut I’d say.  However, I have a tendency to make a very simple command into an overwhelming task.  If I receive a revelation from the Lord regarding the next step, I start thinking, reasoning, weighing the tasks and roadblocks that could potentially lie ahead of me.  Soon, I end up creating an image of an impossible feat that, in my mind, can never be accomplished.  When in reality, all God asked me to do was simply …”Go”.

As I was reading in Luke Chapter 17 today, I was confronted by the simplicity of obedience through the response of a group leprous men.  Luke 17:12 tells us that as Jesus was entering a village, ten men were standing off at a distance.

Before I go any further I just want to point out the implications of leprosy.  These men had no semblance of a normal life.  If they had families, most likely they were unable to live amongst them for fear of spreading their disease to their wives and children.  They were cut off from society, probably without a job, and undoubtedly desperate for healing.

The word “desperate” as defined by several dictionaries states as follows:

des·per·ate/ˈdespərit/

Hmm… I want you to keep that in mind as we go further.  These men were virtually in a hopeless situation.  Having tried everything, they had most likely, and quite painfully resolved themselves to the reality that they were never going to be healed.   This was going to be their life and probably the cause of their death.  They were desperate.

Back to Luke now.  Verse thirteen and fourteen go on to say, “and they raised their voices saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests…”  Yep, that’s it.  Nothing else.  Jesus’ response to them was simply- “Go.”

I don’t know about you, but if I were desperate, I’d be asking some serious questions at this point.  After all, we are talking about my future here!  I’d be wondering, “Well, Lord, what the heck is that going to do?”  Simply going before the priests.  First of all, if I had had leprosy for any amount of time, you’d better be sure I would have already tried that.   And if that were the case, that fact would only lead to more questions.

I can almost hear myself now, “Wait…but Lord, another question… this part makes no sense either.  Why can’t you just touch me?  Or just heal me now.  Or just say the words.  I know you can do that.  I have heard that you have already done that for so many people.  Good gosh, I could go on for days with all my questions.  I can tell you right now,  I could have come up with ten reasons on the fly regarding why my way toward healing made a lot more sense than Jesus’.

Now, before you say anything regarding my previous comment, it’s true.  How many times do I question Jeremiah 29:11.  ”For I know the plans I have for you.  Plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  How many times in our lives, in the midst of our struggles, our “leprosy” if you will, do I wonder how on earth this thing is going to turn out for good.  Yeah, in those moments I am telling Jesus “There’s gotta be a better way…”

But, as we turn back to the pages of Luke, that wasn’t the desperate lepers response at all.  After Jesus commanded them to show themselves to the priest, the verse simply goes to the statement, “And as they were going…”  Basically, they left.  Jesus said Go so they did.   No questions asked.  No other alternate ways of healing suggested.  They simply went.  And do you know what the rest of the verse says,  ”As they were going, THEY WERE HEALED.”

Scriputre doesn’t say that “As they were going they were talking about how ridiculous this “plan” of Jesus’ was or what they were going to do when it didn’t work.  Though the lepers were asked to go to the priest, they were not even asked to figure out what to say when they got before them.  They never got that far.  They were healed on the way.  Jesus called for obedience, nothing more but certainly nothing less.  And Jesus honored their obedience.

When I think about the lepers situation, I think about how many “road blocks” I would have built up in my head that never became issues.  When Jesus calls for us to “Go” that is the extent of his request.  He doesn’t ask to to figure out what we are going to do when we start off, or prepare ourselves for when things go wrong, or even figure out what we are going to do when we get there.  Jesus simply asks for obedience.

Let us trust that when we are are called by the Lord to “Go” He already has a plan prepared for how He is going to get us where He has commanded us to go.  Let’s not fill our minds with that how’s and why’s but the faith in knowing our Mighty Lord and Savior already has it all figured out.  We don’t have to.