Walking Home
Sometimes we need to walk in faith for a while before we see that God is with us.
When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet's own country). When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival. Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my little boy dies." Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, "Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him." The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. - John 4:43-54
From Cana to Capernaum is a full day's walk, over seven and a half hours today, with better roads than in Jesus' day. Perhaps the trip took longer than that for this official, since he arrived near his home the day after he spoke with Jesus about his son.
Imagine what was on his mind the whole time he was walking.
How many times did he wonder if his son was still alive?
He had made the trip to find Jesus after hearing that Jesus had come to Galilee, so time has passed since he was with his son who was already ill for some time.
The slaves met him along the road, but that couldn't have been too far from home, since he had been traveling a long time by then.
This had to be torture for him.
It is only through faith that we can carry the burden of uncertainty and shed the weight of doubt. We need to believe fully that the outcome we are praying for has already been achieved in order to go the distance.
I talk to people who see the road ahead as too long, the burden too great, and they want to give up, when just a little faith could bring them great rewards.
Patience and trust in God help us persevere.
Once we start to doubt, we lose.
One step at a time. That is probably how the man made it home.
More to come...