2月22日

標　　題： 神要差遣你去服事誰？

經　　節： 「……我帶他到你門徒那裡，他們卻不能醫治他。」耶穌說：「噯！這又不信又悖謬的世代啊，我在你們這裡要到幾時呢？我忍耐你們要到幾時呢？把他帶到我這裡來吧！」（馬太福音十七章16∼17節）

耶穌給予門徒趕鬼、行醫治神跡的能力（馬太福音十：8）。祂賜給他們服事人的權柄，然而，他們卻變得自我中心，以致失去能力去行神的大工。一位父親帶著患癲癇病的孩子前來求醫治，門徒們束手無策，他們不瞭解自己為何趕不出這一類的鬼。門徒們當時非常在乎自己的身分地位（馬可福音九：32∼35），以至於轉移了注意力，忘卻原本神所託付的目標。耶穌對祂門徒的反應是相當嚴厲的。耶穌很少說那麼嚴峻的話，祂責備自己的門徒是「不信」又「悖謬」的，同時質問他們，自己得忍耐他們到幾時！祂為甚麼說這種話呢？因為門徒照理說應該與祂同工，傳達救恩給人，但此時他們卻迷失了方向，沒有定睛在耶穌的身上，因而失去屬靈的能力，缺乏信心。在這種情況之下，他們無法在肉體與靈性上幫助那些神要他們服事的人。神應該能將需要幫助的人送到任一個祂兒女的身邊，並且預期那些人可以得到幫助。我們也可能像那些門徒一樣，一心想著自己的雄心抱負，被自己每天忙碌的時間表分散注意力。結果，我們對那些需要幫助者的服事，變得毫無果效。我們甚至可能太專注於宗教活動，而無法幫助他人。要定期檢討你的生活，看看自己是否是忠實的僕人，服事那些神送來、有需要幫助的人。

Whom Is God Sending to You?

"So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." (Matthew 17:16-17)

Jesus gave His disciples the power to cast out demons and to perform miracles of healing (Matt. 10:8). He gave them His authority to minister to people, yet they became so self-centered that they lost the power to do the work of God. When God sent a father with his epileptic son to them for healing, they failed miserably. They were so concerned with position and status (Mark 9:32–35) that they lost their focus on what God wanted to do through them.

Jesus’ response to His disciples included some of the harshest words ever to come from His mouth. He called His own disciples “unbelieving” and “perverse” and questioned how much longer He had to endure them! Why? Because they were supposed to be on mission with Him to bring salvation to others, but they had become so disoriented to Him that they were spiritually powerless, lacking the faith to bring physical and spiritual comfort to those God had sent to them.

God ought to be able to send a hurting person to any child of His and expect that they will be helped. Like the disciples, we can become so preoccupied with our own ambitions and distracted by the busyness of our lives that we become ineffective in ministering to those whom God sends to us. It is even possible to become so involved in religious activity that we are of no help to anyone. Regularly take inventory of your life to see if you are being a faithful steward of every life God sends to you.