"Go...your son lives."

As I'm getting Bible study ready for tonight, I glean over this passage and am reminded about faith. I'm teaching from John 4:43-54 tonight. We have been going through the Gospel of John for a few months now and it has been fantastic. John's Gospel has so much to offer all people, regardless of spiritual maturity. Anyway, we are talking about the healing of the royal official's son tonight. This guy comes to Jesus asking him to heal his son. He know what he's been doing, he's heard of the signs and wonders of this hometown boy (they are in Galilee) and knew that he could help. When he asks Jesus to come back with him, pleads and begs him (vs. 49) Jesus simply responds, "Go, your son lives."

I wonder the look on this guys face. You're asking Jesus to come back with you to heal your son, and he tells you that he lives. He then takes Jesus at his word and goes home to see his son. There was no way of knowing that his son was going to be okay, he had to trust this guy Jesus who he had never met before from just his words.

And...he does.

And on his way back, his bondservants come to him telling him that his son is better and is alive. And when he asks him when his conditions improved, when do you think they said? Of course, right when Jesus spoke these words. There is a whole other discussion on the power of Christ to speak and make things live, but we will save that for another time.

That is faith. Jesus told this guy, "Go home. Trust that my words are powerful enough to heal your son. You won't have any proof of it right now, but just wait and see."

This is an exhortation to let us have faith in our Lord. Jump in. Let us trust Him at His Word. When he speaks, there is Life.

I hurt today...very badly.  I was with my mom and she was telling me about her recent trip to our old hometown Abilene, TX.  She always goes and visits our family there and no matter what she tries to get in contact with them and share hesed with them...which is a whole 'nother post.  But today, she was telling me about how so many of my cousins, mainly the female ones, have just stopped caring about themselves or their family.  My aunt, Becca, has many daughters who have either gotten deep into drugs or deep into drunkenness.  As she told me about each one, I felt my heart ache.  One has had 8 children and doesn't have any with her at all.  The fathers have taken some, she has given up some for adoption, and one she just gave to a couple at the hospital she had just met because she didn't want it.  Another cousin of mine went to my aunts house, her grandmother, and tried to stay there one night.  She was strung out and my aunt told her she couldn't stay.  She began to yell and curse at my aunt while holding a crying baby in her hands, and trying to guilt her into letting her stay.  Another one of my cousins goes back and forth between letting my aunt (her mom) see her kids (my aunt's grandkids) and using them against her. 

I don't tell these stories to gossip, but I tell them because we all have people in our lives that are like this.  I just want to tell my cousins that God likes them...He really likes them. I don't say that to sound silly or sarcastic.  It is truth...He likes them.  It hurts me to know that there are those in my extended family who have not seen or heard the Gospel...or they have seen a distorted picture of it.  

As I was sitting there with my mom, I began to tear up because of the hurt I was feeling...how much more does God desire them to desire Him.  They have no idea that God likes them.