"Jesus Heals an Official's Son"

 "At the end of the two days, Jesus went to Galilee. He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown. Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration and had seen everything he did there. As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die. 

 Jesus asked, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?" The official pleaded, "Lord, please come now before my little boy dies." Then Jesus told him, "Go back home. Your son will live!" And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.

 While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, "Yesterday afternoon at one o'clock his fever suddenly disappeared!" Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea." (John 4:43-54 NLT) 

  "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT) 

 Well, the good news is, that I made it through yesterday, and today marks another day! I know it is old news, but yesterday marked the 18th year since my wife first went into the hospital, never to be quite the same again. It was a day that I long to forget, yet I still remain in, as if it never ends. The hope of waking up and seeing it was just a dream, that left long ago; now I just hope daily that Jesus will come shortly and take us home. 

 I find it rather interesting how this particular encounter is so similar to another, yet so altogether different. But isn't that the way things actually really are? There really is nothing that might be exactly the same; there is always some kind of variance, some sort of twist that takes an alternate route; as if there is never the same mold that is used more than once. 

 Never mind my thoughts, they are pretty much all over the place and hard to gather into one basket. But, have you ever started a talk with someone, thinking you have so much in common, but then, as you dive deeper into each other's lives, you get a whole different view, realizing that the roads are almost completely opposite each other. (Not a question, really, just an observation.) 

 When I ever get that statement from someone, saying, "I know what you must be going through," I almost want to laugh out saying, "No, I don't really believe that you do!" Imagine the thoughts that might have been going on in this officials head, if it were you that Jesus said, "Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?" Would you suddenly feel as though you were asking for too much? or maybe feel as though you were seemingly too needy? 

 I cannot say that I know what he must be going through; but I know what he must be going through...

"Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, you mortals!" For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours. You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered. We wither beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your fury. You spread out our sins before you - our secret sins - and you see them all. We live our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan." (Psalm 90:1-9 NLT)