Just give me your word...

Luke 7:1-10 NASB

When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.
 
And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.  When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.  When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, "He is worthy for You to grant this to him;  for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue." 

Now Jesus  started  on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;  for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but  just  say the word, and my servant will be healed.  "For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it." 

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith."  When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

My thoughts -

I want God close to me. I don't like distance. I don't like doubt. I don't like insecurity.

But that doesn't seem to be the way God works. At least not for me. Not for many of us, really. God is in Heaven. We are on Earth. There is distance. And every once in a while we have an experience in which we feel the presence of God so close we almost feel like we're going to suffocate and explode with joy and peace all at the same time.

My faith resides in the moments I can't feel God near. There is almost always distance. There is almost always uncertainty. God's presence just doesn't feel "there" and "close" as often as I'd like. This is not an obstacle to be eluded but a fact of life to be lived with.

I love this story for that reason. This man had faith in Jesus to heal his servant. He had such faith that he didn't need Jesus's physical presence. He didn't need Jesus to be there. He didn't need to touch Jesus's cloak or to have Jesus spit in mud and rub it on him or to do any kind of ritual. He didn't need Jesus to lay hands and pray over him.

This man had faith. He didn't need Jesus's presence. Jesus's word was enough.

"Just say the word and my servant will be healed."

I find this to be remarkable. Jesus did, too, exclaiming that he had not seen such faith in all of Israel.

I don't have the presence of God in my life all the time. That's not true. I don't feel the presence of God in my life all the time. Heck, not even most of the time. God, in Christ, came near once. The Spirit reveals God to us but I don't always have enough revealed to me for my liking. It seems like I get just enough to get me by until each next day. My daily Spiritual bread, as it were.

But for this man the presence of Jesus was not as important as Jesus's word. That is the kind of faith I desire. That is the kind of faith I think we all need.

God, your Word is good enough for me.