Lent Devotional Day 9

Day 9
Thursday, March 2


John 4:43-53

After two days Jesus left for Galilee.(44 Jesus himself had testified that prophets have no honor in their own country.) 45 When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they also had been at the festival.

46 He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”

49 The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.” 50 Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.”The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
51 While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” 52 So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.”53 Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.


Reflection

Verse 48 strikes me. Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.” Growing up in the Show Me State, I learned to associate that I needed to be shown things before I believed them. I thought that was a little silly, but maybe there is more truth to that when we look at ourselves and our own lives.

I am often like the royal officer and ask Jesus to come fix my problems before it is too late. My 17-year-old daughter, Ellie, has special needs (epilepsy and a genetic deletion that causes learning delays). I have been thinking about her next steps in life and had my mind spinning in circles lately. I know there is no quick fix or answer to what I am asking of Jesus. Being honest, I was in a funk for a week. I went to church and listened to the message on Sunday and listened in my CoreGroup. I could almost see Jesus smiling at me, saying patience, Diane. A calm came to me that said it is ok to go through rough patches, you do not need to have all the answers now.

Maybe like the royal officer, I believed more when I picked Ellie up from school and she told me about her volunteer work at Straub’s or how she learned how to cope and talk through some hard feelings with her teacher. It helped me believe and say to Joe we don’t have every answer, but I believe that the Lord is watching over Ellie.


Prayer

This is a Lenten prayer for our impatient moments of wanting an answer too quickly or trying to answer our own question by logically spinning circles in our minds. May we slow down and know that Jesus is there, ready to add calm to our lives. May we look for the signs that make us believe and share them with each other. And remember the Lord’s assurance that it is ok to not have all the answers and to pray for a sign or wonder now and then. Amen.

By Diane Wiegel