“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. . . ‘Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.'” (Luke 10:1, 9 NIV2)

“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.'” (Luke 10:18, NIV2)

Jesus was a healer, and so were his disciples. Now Jesus gives authority to 72 others. Who were they? We aren’t told, except for the fact that they were followers of the Most High. They believed fully in Jesus. They became quite excited when God’s power flowed through their hands to heal and chase demons. How would we feel if that happened to us? Excited! That’s how I would be and have been. Nothing is impossible to our Heavenly Father!

With the arrival of His Son in our neighborhood, healing became the norm. First done soley by Jesus Himself, then His disciples started to heal as well, and now we discover even more people, 72 of them, receiving authority from Jesus to heal. A revolution was just at its beginning.

As it multiplied, it was not meant to disappear. Whatever our Heavenly Father starts, He will grow way beyond anyone’s imagination. Nothing can stop us. Why? Because our Father is with us. He heals. He guides. In other words, He loves us above all else.

If our Father guides us out of darkness, He certainly will heal as well. After all, He loves us way more than anyone else. Take, for example, the time when we were in the Hatteras, North Carolina.

What would you do if you find yourself in total darkness amidst miles of sand dunes? In the distance, you notice lightning slashing through the sky, and its heading towards you. Besides what you see, you know that the local news is calling for torrential rain. Help!

This was our situation the last day we were camping at the Hatteras. It was still quite clear when we arrived at the dunes, and as we didn’t have a 4 wheel-drive vehicle, we decided to walk to the end of the island. The owner of the campground had told us that it was just half a mile. Child’s play. Or so we thought. Instead we walked at least two miles in the sand, and we still were not yet at the end. We encouraged each other to go a bit further, but when we saw two cars with their bright lights in the distance, heading our way, we realized there was still quite a walk to reach our destination.

We tried to stay out of the way of these vehicles, and once they were past us, we decided to return. It was getting dark fast, and we still had quite a trek. One thing I learned when I was young is that dunes all look the same in the dark, making them an ideal place to get lost. Furthermore, lightening was starting to streak across the sky, and it was heading for us. A perfect recipe for disaster.

We stayed on the hard sand, as we had more traction. On the softer part of the beach, there were numerous car tracks. These tracks however, didn’t always lead to where we had started. Some continued on. We could only rely on our Heavenly Father for direction. He would be our flashlight!

As we walked for what seems ions, I suddenly felt that we should start walking on the car tracks in the soft sand. It’s then that we noticed that these tracks were turning to the left and we found the way to our car. Had we walked on a few more meters further, we would have been lost. God certainly cares for His sons and daughters. No doubt about it. If He can lead us out of a dark scenario, He will lead us with our other needs as well.

Would you like a flashlight? Sorry, we have none. Yes, we had no light with us except our Father. His flashlight is way more accurate than what we call flashlights!

The storm came with vengeance once we were securely in our trailer. When we woke up the next morning, most of our camp was flooded. Our Father is truly faithful. He will see us through to the end.

Would you like to go for a hike with me? I know of an interesting place in the Hatteras. We will have fun! No flashlight needed!

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “The Forgotten Message” devotional series, please click here.