Road Test Of Faith

Life can be like this wintery mountain road. The twist and turns are dangerous enough in good weather, add the snow and ice to it becomes a whole new ballgame. Mountain roads are my least favorite to be on. I sit in the passenger seat with white knuckles holding on tight until we are done with them. They are definitely a test of faith for me. Trusting God will get us through the snaking road and keep us from going over the edge. Trusting that He is guiding my husband as he drives. Sometimes I feel like the disciples must have felt when Jesus said to them that they had “little faith.”

Luke chapter 8, is a great example of the road test of our faith. Starting in verse 22, where the disciples were white knuckling the storm that had come up while Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat. I’m sure they were like, “How can He sleep through this? We are all going to die. “As a matter of fact when they woke Jesus up they were sure they were going to die. How like us with things come along that we have no control over, we start to panic as to how we are going to get through this. We become full of fear over what we see as the only possible outcome of the situation. It is then and only then that we cry out to Him to help us. Save us. Even though He was right there all along we don’t come to Him until we are desperate and sure that the end is near. Why, did we not come to Him sooner? He let our feelings and fear control us and take over our faith to the point we lost it and all hope is gone. Like the disciples, we hear from Him, “Where is your faith?”

Further in the chapter, there was a ruler of the synagogue who came to Jesus because life had taken a terrible turn. His daughter was deathly ill and he knew from what he had heard about Jesus that He could heal her. But on the way to his house, Jesus stopped and asked who had touched Him. For the ruler here is another curve in the street, delay of time in getting to his daughter. All of Jesus’ focus was off of taking care of his daughter and on whoever touched Him.

With the huge crowd, that was surrounding Him the disciples were like it could be a number of people that touched Jesus. They must not have had much training in crowd control in that people were touching Him left and right in their mind. Jesus knew that there was one touch that was special. One touch meant a lot to someone and He wanted whoever that was to know that He cared about them. What a curve in the road for the woman that thought she could just reach out and touch the hem of His garment and be on her way, except healed. No, it didn’t work that way. Somehow, He knew she had touched Him. Trembling at what His response was going to be she came forward, pleading her cause. What a shock for her to hear Him say that her faith has made her whole. WHOLE  sozo – complete, deliver, protect, healed, preserved, and saved. Not only was she healed physically but also mind and spirit.

The ruler must have been shocked that Jesus would do this for someone that was unclean in the Jews standard. The disciples hearing Him say to her that her faith has made her whole when He had just told them earlier they had little faith. What could they do if they had faith like her’s?

The last curve in this story, is when people come and tell him that his daughter was dead and t leave Jesus alone. Only, Jesus was right there to plug the holes in his leaking boat of faith. Everything was going to be all right all the ruler had to do was believe, trust, to have faith in what Jesus could do. When they finally got there, Jesus had the ruler, his wife and three of His disciples in the room. He said that she was only asleep then asked her to arise and she did.

If Jesus can calm the storms for those of little faith, heal someone with just a touch of faith, and raise a girl from the dead because of her father’s faith, what can He do for you?