Astonishing Faith

“Lord”, the centurion said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”

“I will go and heal him.”

“Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished…
“Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.

Excerpt Matt 8:5-13

Do I have that kind of faith? The kind of faith that astonishes Christ? Does my faith, like the centurion’s, cause Jesus to stop in his tracks and marvel?

What was so astonishing about the centurion’s faith? I believe it was that he was able to see past the physical world and understand the spiritual forces that influence it. And, he recognized that it was Jesus of Nazareth, a poor Jewish carpenter, an inglorious, apolitical, unimpressive man, who had authority over these spiritual forces.

I believe it was also astonishing because he didn’t stop there. He confirmed his faith with action. This military leader, himself a man of position and authority, considered not his own reputation, but sought after and publicly submitted to the authority of a lowly Jew. He humbly denied Jesus’ offer to travel with him, enter his house and touch his servant. He requested only that Jesus speak, and he knew it would be done.

If faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see, this uncircumcised Gentile soldier could be faith’s poster child. Astonishing.

Do I have that kind of faith? Man, do I want it. This centurion is one of my favorite biblical characters, and I aspire to his faith. There are times when I do say, “This request may not heed logic, but my God moves in and out of logic. Time, power, authority, and facts bend to his will. I will humbly, yet boldly, come to the throne of grace and beseech my king for this request.”

Unfortunately, there are also those times I relate more to the poor disciples who get…shall we say…chastised by the Lord: A man approached Jesus, “I brought my son to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

The disciples asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

“Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Excerpt Matt 17:14-21

I’m thankful for the mustard seed. I’m thankful that although I may not always astonish God with my ultra-dimensional-barrier-breaking faith, He still moves. I’m thankful he chooses to honor the seed and will cause it to grow.

And then, there are those times when my faith is on an altogether different plane of spiritual reality. Times like I just experienced a few months ago. In hindsight, I see the lessons learned, the brilliance of his timing, and the mercy of his love. While I was in it, however, darkness permeated. As each new day dawned, I would lay in bed and say, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn, ‘Dear God, not another day. I can’t see you, I can’t hear you, I can’t feel you. You have to show up today.” I would act, I would move, and the day would pass. The new day would dawn,…

Last month, as this period began to break, God revealed to me, “That’s what faith is daughter. Faith is continuing to walk, while still in the darkness.” Through revelations, affirmations, insight, and beautiful people, the Lord has radically turned the course of events in one aspect of the darkness, and shone such light and hope and direction in another aspect that it is now obvious my Lord heard all those cries and answered. His timing. His way. Big enough to blow me away.

My emotional and personality tendencies are to experience the highs and lows, the dark and the light. God never lets me speak about anything I haven’t personally experienced. I may yet again experience such a low; yet as long as I keep walking, I’m living in faith. And my God will hear my cry and answer.

My faith may not always be astonishing. But, I’m thankful, my God always is.