The Centurion

Matthew 8   When He (Jesus) entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, appealing to Him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.  And He said to him, I will come and heal him.  But the centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  And I say to one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.  When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

As I was reading this story I thought, Wow.  I would have loved to have been a witness to this.  To have faith to ask for a miracle to see my request come to life would be fantastic.  What an awesome miracle.

And immediately the Helper says, Did you not pray for your son to be delivered safely home from deployment?  And is he not at this moment with his wife and daughter in Kansas?

Psalm 9   I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.  I will be glad and exalt in You; I will sing praise to Your Name, O Most High....Those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

As you read this guard your heart from cynicism.  Thoughts will creep in that say, Now that was not a miracle or an answer to prayer.  That was just a coincidence or fate or luck.  Plenty of soldiers came home without the prayers of their families and soldiers die despite prayers for their safety.

I will not try to convince you either way.  What I will tell you is how it plays out in my heart.

I cannot always trust the thoughts in my heart and mind.  We all struggle with thoughts of negativity and broken ways of thinking.  We all carry baggage and past hurts and doubts in ourselves and in God.  So how to we discern between conscious thoughts and the voice of our Lord?

I have become familiar to the voice of God in the same way that I recognize the voice of my mother, my sisters or my children over the phone.  His is the voice of simple truth.  Love, hope, faith, courage and the proof of His existence are in His voice.  Even when He is teaching me or correcting my steps there is no condemnation.  Only truth in love.  Negativity does not come from God.  Thoughts of doubt, fear, inadequacy or self depreciation do not come from God.  

I will choose to believe in God's truth and in His provision and I will leave my mind open to believe in miracles.  I will choose to have faith in Him, faith like a centurion.

Psalm 121   I lift up my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and  earth.  He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.  The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.  The sun shall not strike you by day, not the moon by night.  The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.  The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Father thank You for bringing Jodie back to his family.  Thank You for all who give of themselves in honor and duty to country and family.  Bless them and keep them safe in Your care.

Jodie if you read this, call your mama :)