"He Marvelled"

"When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Matthew 8:10
"When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed Him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." Luke 7:9
"And He marvelled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching." Mark 6:6


        The dictionary tells us that to "marvel" means: to be filled with wonder, admiration, or astonishment, as at something surprising or extraordinary.
         All throughout the Bible, we find verses about God's marvelous works and marvelous doings. "Remember His marvellous works that He hath done, His wonders..." (I Chron. 16:12) "Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number." (Job 5:9).
         We also know that when Jesus was on earth, He made many people marvel at who He was. "But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" (Mth. 8:27) "And He answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly." (Mth. 27:14) "And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel." (Mark 5:20) "And they could not take hold of His words before the people: and they marvelled at His answer, and held their peace." (Luke 20:26) "And upon this came His disciples, and marvelled that He talked with the woman..." (John 4:27)
           Marveling at Jesus and who He is, is certainly no foreign concept to us. I am filled with wonder at His unconditional love for me. I admire His compassion and heart for people. He is, without a doubt, EXTRAORDINARY. This seems normal to us. Of course we marvel at Him, He is God! But have we ever thought about how He marvels at us?
           If you read through the Gospel books, you will see that Jesus only marveled two times when He was here on earth (that we are told of). Both were about the faith of a person/people. We have the same story being told in Matthew 8 and Luke 7. The centurion wanted Jesus to heal his beloved servant who was deathly ill. He did not find himself worthy to have Jesus come into his house, so he asked Jesus to "but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." (Mth 8:8) We are then told that when Jesus heard this, "He marvelled and said.....I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." (Mth. 8:10)
           In Mark 6 we have, in my opinion, one of the most heart breaking stories. Jesus "came into His own country......And they were offended at Him." (Mark 6:1,3) He could do no mighty works or miracles among them. "And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them." (Mark 6:5) The Bible then tells us that Jesus marveled at them, but it was nothing like the first one. It was not because of great faith, but the exact opposite "because of their unbelief." (Mark 6:6) How sad is it that He wanted to do so much for them, but because of their own unbelief, He didn't. He was well able whether they believed or not, but their faithlessness hindered His hand from working.
            All during Jesus' time on earth, we see the result of people's faith. Faith that healed people, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole..." (Mark 5:34) "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." (Matthew 15:28) Faith that gave the blind sight, "..the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened..." (Matthew 9:28-30) The Lord healed them based on their faith, not on His ability. He is able to do anything whether we believe it or not. Maybe He isn't doing more in our lives because we aren't believing He is able. Oh, we "know" He is able, but we don't necessarily "believe" He is able. We all "know" we should be kind to one another, but a lot of times we aren't kind because of circumstances or feelings. I once heard, "What you believe will move you to action." If you believe you should be kind to one another, your belief will move you to action no matter the circumstances. No matter how you feel, you will believe with all your heart that there is no reason for your emotions to get in the way of your belief.
             Do we want Him to lay "His hands upon a few sick folk..." or do we want Him to be able to move mountains in our lives? Jesus marveled at the centurion's faith. He marveled at the others' unbelief. He is marveling at our faith today. Is He in wonder and admiration of your faith in Him? Or is He astonished and surprised of your unbelief in Him? I don't know about you, but I want to make my Saviour marvel at my extraordinary faith in Him.

"Their Strength is to Sit Still"

"Their strength is to sit still." (Isaiah 30:7)

          "God is in control." "God knows what He is doing." "He has a perfect plan for your life." "God knows what you need and when you need it." "He is sovereign." "He never makes a mistake." "God is never late, He is always on time." "Trust Him." "Put your faith in Him completely."
          Wouldn't life be one hundred times easier if we could learn how to live these statements in our own lives as quickly as they are said to us? I wish I could say, "I trust You, Lord" and BAM! Faith to move a mountain was evident in my life. I wish I could say "I'll wait as long as You want for whatever You want" and BAM! That sweet peace comes and calms my troubled soul and I never worry again. Or I could say, "not my will, but Thy will be done" and BAM! Control is placed in His hands and each day is lived for Him selflessly.
          HA! Sorry, but this is reality where the fall/curse of man surrounds us every day. The sins of every human being plague our lives with each breath we take. There is a devil that "hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (Luke 22:31). Just as Satan wanted to test Job and destroy his purpose, just as Satan desired to have Peter and sift him as wheat, that same devil desires each one of us. He wants to destroy our testimonies for Christ. He wants to tear apart our witness for the Lord. He wants to make us his victims and not God's victors. He wants us to think that life is about this physical world when truthfully "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12).

          Even when we trust God and leave our lives in His hands, we will still have pressures, oppositions, and burdens thrown at us by the devil. If you want to do something for the Lord, you can guarantee the devil "hath desired to have you", your spouse, your children, your family.....your everything.We cannot overcome the devil. We are only human. But I do know that "...the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands." (I Samuel 17:47) I know that Christ is on my side, and He wins EVERY TIME. The devil can desire you, but he can't have you. "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." (Luke 22:32) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word...." (John 17:20-26). The Lord has already prayed for us...amazing isn't it?!?! He prayed years ago for us specifically. Peter still denied Christ three times. His faith was weak, but it did not fail completely; it only got stronger and bolder. Christ knows our faith is weak sometimes (if not all the time! guilty...), but He wants to grow our faith. I once heard that, "It isn't about how much faith you have, it's about what your faith is in." When your faith is in Christ, "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20)

              We can never have the beauty of Spring without first having the ugliness of Winter. We can never have a rainbow without first having the storm. A mommy can never have her sweet child without first going through the pain. We can never have remission of sins without first having the shedding of blood "and without shedding of blood is no remission....but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:22,26).

          And ALL of this to say---we can never have the beauty of real faith without first going through the fires, the waters, the storms, and the valleys. We should be thankful that God takes the time to grow our faith. Sometimes we just need to sit back and allow the Lord to water and grow us. "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10) "Their strength is to sit still." (Isaiah 30:7) God's ways are always perfect. His timing is never a day late. His supply is never a dollar short. God knows exactly what He is doing in your life and in mine.