Faith--What Else Do We Have? What More Do We Need?

Matthew 8: 5-13--"When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came and pled with him to come to his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and wracked with pain. 'Yes,' Jesus said, 'I will come and heal him.' Then the officer said, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my home; {and it isn't necessary to come}. If you will only stand here and say, 'Be healed,' my servant will get well! I know, because I am under the authority of the superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers, and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave boy 'Do this or that,' and he does it. And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to go--and it will go!' Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, 'I haven't seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles {like this Roman officer}, shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And many an Israelite--those for whom the Kingdom was prepared--shall be cast into outer darkness, into the place of weeping and torment.' Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, 'Go on home. What you have believed has happened!' And the boy was healed that same hour!"

The above account is one of my favorite reports of Christ's journey while on Earth amongst the people of Israel. Here we have a Roman soldier, a very unlikely candidate to tolerate this trouble-causer Jesus, much less to actually come to him for help in his time of great need. Greater yet, this was a show of true and undeniable FAITH that Christ would heal the servant boy when the child wasn't even in Christ's midst, but rather back at the Roman soldier's home. This was a beautiful example of true faith from a soldier who thought and acted as a true soldier; one who understood the practicality of authority. He also clearly understood something that Christ's contemporaries failed to see--Christ was the ultimate authority.

How much smoother our lives would be if we lived with the belief system of this Roman soldier. If only we faithfully followed the sacred prayer, "Thy will be done." Truly, what else do we have in this life that is so trustworthy? More importantly, what more do we truly need?

This week, let's give ourselves a break and know that we don't need to be in charge. We need only to trust. And pray. And believe.

Peace be with you.