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June 25, 2016
My reflection for today is focused on our Gospel, Matthew 8:5-17. The story is centered on a centurion, a man of great faith, who believed that the Lord would cure his servant who was home paralyzed and suffering dreadfully. Jesus assured the centurion that he would come to his home and cure his servant. But, the centurion responded to Jesus with these words “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.” Jesus, in response to these words of uninhibited faith was amazed and said to the centurion, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith…You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour his servant was healed. WOW! Really, WOW!!!! How can one read this piece of scripture and not be in awe of the greatness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ???? While we may not have walked the actual road with Jesus in His time, he is by our side every single day in every single way.
If only I were the centurion, who stood so strong in his faith in the presence of Jesus. What an experience for this man, to be in Jesus’ presence and witness His greatness without any doubt.
Our Lord tells us through many scriptures to welcome challenging times as opportunities to trust Him. He is always beside us and His Spirit resides within our very souls.
We need the faith to know that God will not abandon us in our life, we simply need to let go of the control, and let him be the pilot, accepting each opportunity that comes our way. I don’t find this easy!
My journey is to be the Light of God every single day with all who He places into my presence. It’s so difficult when these opportunities (which may sometimes appear to be challenges) come into my path. God’s word tells us to walk through those demanding days by gripping His hand tightly and remaining in close communication with Him! Let your thoughts and spoken words be richly flavored with trust and thankfulness, no matter what the circumstances are. God truly tells us in Isaiah 26:3 – “YOU (God) keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on YOU, because he trusts in YOU.”
God is good, and those who believe know that we can do all things through Christ!