If God were
to answer one of my many prayer requests, but decided to achieve this outside
of my preferred means, would I be okay with that? Would I even acknowledge that
my prayer had been answered if it came wrapped in methods I didn’t recognize?
What is missed when I presume my will upon God’s? Is not my planning out His
course of action a practice in utter futility? Would my response to the above
questions be telling of my faith?
Well, the
official in John 4 finds himself in a similar situation. He had learned that
Jesus was returning to Cana (the place
where Christ had performed His first miraculous sign by transforming water into
wine), so he went to meet Him there, hoping that Jesus would travel back to
Capernaum with him to heal his son (John 4:46-47). This nobleman had walked a
great distance and was in great need, for his son was deathly ill (John 4:49).
He made
his petition before the Lord, but Jesus was not planning to make the trip to
the official’s home. How disappointing! Can you imagine how you might have
responded? If I’m the father and my child is about to die, and I truly think
this Jesus guy can help, I’m not leaving Cana without Him. I would have bribed
Him, bartered with Him, maybe even bullied Him with force. “Listen Jesus, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, but You’re
coming with me!”
Interestingly,
the father did nothing of the like. Rather, when Christ told him to go because
his son would surely live, the official simply believed him. He trusted Jesus
at His word and went back home (John 4:50). Before the nobleman could reach his
house, one of his servants met him on the road to inform him that his son was
recovering and the sickness would not end with the grave (John 4:51).
So
then, how do you and I respond? Are we so narrowly focused that we miss His
hand at work? Many of us prayed for patience years ago. The Lord later blessed
us with children. Coincidence or answered prayer? We often pray for humility,
yet how might that take place without our prideful hearts being exposed? When
that happens, do we focus on how silly we look and feel or do we see His grace
that has revealed these areas of weakness? We long to grow in our faith, but
that means we must be stripped of all the other things we place our trust in.
Yes, when life’s crutches and false foundations are taken away, we have none
other than Jesus to lean upon. To say it rightly, we discover that in reality, we
have all things pertaining to life and godliness in Christ alone (2 Peter 1:3). He is the
Cornerstone and the Rock on which we stand.
When we
pray with our assumed version of
God’s plan all mapped out in our mind, His
actual response to our plea may go unnoticed. The official could have stayed
in Cana, determined to find some way to have Jesus come visit his son personally. But he would have missed the
miraculous healing of his child. Instead, he trusted Christ and headed home at
the word “go”, only to find that his son had began improving the very hour that
he spoke to the Savior a day earlier (John 4:52-53).
That
kind of faith is contagious. As noted in the story, not only did the official come
to believe, but his entire household did as well (John 4:53). Will we trust God
enough to allow Him to answer our prayers in His time and in His way? Will we
accept “no” and “not now” as easily as we receive His “yes”? Will we trust Him
with all the means and methods? Will we be obedient and faithful whether we can
perceive Him at work or not? Oh I pray that we will, for He is glorified in
such trust. So, what are you praying for? Have you made your need known to our
Heavenly Healer? Good, now rest in confidence that you’ve been heard (1 John 5:14) and
believe that His will shall be accomplished.
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| Matt Fowler Associate Pastor of Missions & Students matt@nbchurch.info @fattmowler |
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