Amazed by Faith

The 7/9 verse of the day is from Luke 7:9, "When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.”  NIV

I'm a little intrigued by the passage above.  I like the part that says Jesus was amazed.  How would you like to be known for amazing the most amazing man ever born?  I want to be first in line for that! 

The story surrounding this verse is one of great faith.  The officer who was told about Jesus by the Jewish leaders was not even one of God's people; He was a Roman.  When He heard who Jesus was and what he could do, he showed uncommon faith in asking for his servant's healing.  He felt that he was unworthy to be in the presence of such a holy man and knew that Jesus only had to speak the word for his servant to be healed.  He knew that Jesus did not even have to come in person in order for healing to occur, and voiced that He believed that Jesus had only to speak the words and his servant would be healed.  And so he was.  What an unusual story of faith.

Faith is often an integral agent to the movement of God.  But there is sometimes ignorance and confusion around this issue of faith.  While Jesus ended up healing the servant in the above passage, there have been many other instances where people have not been healed.  Unfortunately, there are people who question a person's faith when God doesn't heal in their situation.  I have to admit, this shortsightedness annoys me.  There is no fail proof formula for God's healing.  That power is His, and His alone.  If we had the formula, we might start acting like we knew more than God.  Imagine us humans doing that!  It's not like we don't already attempt to do so every chance we get. 

We are never absolutely sure when, how, or even if God is going to heal in every situation.  I think the important thing to remember is that He really wants us to leave the results completely up to Him.  I think He only expects us to believe that He can.  One of the greatest gifts God has ever given me is my faith.  I didn't always recognize it, or even know what it was.  But God was so gracious to me, to give me exactly what I needed.  I still do not know if I have ever amazed Him by my faith, but I hope I never stop believing God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do.  He taught me how to do that through the faith He gave me.  To say that I am grateful is such an understatement.  Yet, I don't know any other way to say it.  I am grateful!