taken from www.wau.org
In no one in Israel have I found such faith. (Matthew 8:10)
This pagan centurion certainly had a lot of faith! He loved his servant as a son and was willing to go outside his comfort zone and ask a Jewish rabbi for help. And it was his love and his faith that moved Jesus to commend him so highly.
This man took a very bold step in coming to Jesus. He probably knew there was a good chance he could be rebuffed because he was a Gentile and a member of Rome’s occupying army. But he pushed through his doubts and inner objections, and came to a position of confidence in Jesus’ power: He trusted that Jesus only had to speak the word and his servant would be healed.
This is a good example of living, active faith. Every household, every family, every community has some need for Jesus’ healing touch, but it seems so rare that we hear of people praying with the confidence that this centurion had. Somehow, we have accepted the false premise that we should just take life as it comes—the bad with the good—and not expect that Jesus can intervene to change a difficult situation.
Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus wants to give us good gifts. Over and over again, Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. God’s ways may not always be our ways, but whether we can see it or not, he will act. His response to our prayers may be to use a challenging situation to bring about a healing of relationships or even a dramatic conversion. It may move us to be more compassionate or generous toward others who are sick.
This question of why we don’t always see the healing we ask for is a mystery we will never fully understand. But as mysterious as it can be, we should never let it keep us from praying for his intervention, whether it be spiritual, emotional, or even physical. We have a good and generous God, and we can be sure that he will act!
“Jesus, I ask for a miracle today. I trust that you want to do great things because you love us and want only the best for us.”
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