Read Luke 9:4-5
Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
Read Luke 10:5-11
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’
I do not like opposition. Does anyone really? We all face it at some point in life, but it is never easy. In the face of opposition, it can feel easier to bow out gracefully… or just not try at all. But what do you do when you feel certain God has asked you to do something, only to face opposition and struggle?
In today’s passages, Jesus gives some practical advice for when the going gets tough. He basically says that if someone welcomes you in…great! Stay there! Share about me (Jesus), teach, heal people! But if you aren’t welcomed, don’t dwell on it. Tell them God is near and then shake the dust from your feet and move on. God will take care of the rest.
In my life, when I meet opposition, I feel a sort of injustice, and I am compelled to “make it right.” But in this season of my life, I am learning that what Jesus calls me to do is more about keeping my eyes on Him and less about justice. Like the disciples, I just need to go where he has asked me to go and do what he has asked me to do…Jesus will sort out the rest. He is much better at justice than I am anyway!
Where is Jesus calling you to lately, and you need the reminder to keep focused on Him? Spend some time in prayer, asking God to help you release all the opposition to him.
