Today we hear a very familiar story :  when Jesus arrived in Cana, a royal officer of the court immediately approached him. His son was deathly ill and naturally, the officer was distraught and frightened. The officer approached Jesus and begged him to come and heal his child. The child was near death. There was no time to waste. The father needed Jesus to come with him immediately!
Jesus responds to the man in  what seems to be a very  indifferent manner. He tells the man that he, like many other people, has come to Jesus simply because they needed to have a “wonder” performed.  However, the man persisted in begging Jesus to come with him. And that  there was no one else he could turn to. Jesus was the only hope for his son.
Jesus quietly told the officer to go home and see his child. Was the official disappointed or angry that Jesus did not go with him to see his son? Or did he trust Jesus and his promise?
When the man arrived home, he learned that his child had been completely healed! 
What is the healing that we wish to ask Jesus for? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we immediately received the healing we desire? How would our lives be different if we always received the healing, the wish, the gift or grace we ask Jesus for? In one way, this would be wonderful! However, would we begin to see Jesus in a different light? Would Jesus become more like a “vending machine” to us? We come, place our prayer/request before Jesus, make an “offering” and then wait for the  prayer to be answered, preferably exactly as it was requested?
Yes, we need to ask and pray to Jesus for what we need and desire, but  we also need to have a broad perspective. Jesus will answer our prayer. However, our answer may have a different “take” or direction that we may not have anticipated. Thus we need to be open and trust Jesus to bless us and grace us, as we truly need!  He  will not disappoint us, even if we have to wait for a while! The question is: will we continue to have open, hopeful and trusting hearts?

​

​

​​​