No Time For Miracles

The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.  But only speak a word and my servant will be healed.  "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard it He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!  "And I say to you that many will come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  "But the sons of heaven will cast out into outer darkness.  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."  And his servant was healed that same hour.
Matthew 8: 8 - 13 NKJV

There was a time when I would wonder at these passages in Matthew.  Jesus marveled?  How is it that Jesus could stand in wonder at a Roman centurion?  Then it hit me, this centurion knew the chain of command.  He may not have been a follower of Jesus (We're not told), but he definitely knew the nature of giving commands.  To him, were Jesus to perform a miracle and heal his servant, he would simply be giving a command that it be done.  I can understand how Jesus could be in wonder of this man, I've not seen too many places in scripture where faith such as his is displayed.  Funny how it took a military man to give us such a solid demonstration of faith in Christ Jesus.  I was reminded about this this week as I talked with a friend of mine about the issues of overcoming those addictions we carry with us.  For me, it was a addiction to the flesh, but whatever your demon of choice is, let me make it clear that this is no time for miracles.  What I mean by that is that this is no time for Jesus to step up and, upon our urging, wave His hands that our addictions would disappear.  The faith of that centurion needs to be shown!  How is it that we can have the faith of one of the New Testaments champions of faith?  Well, when we look at it from his perspective it becomes quite easy.  Those of us who have served in the military will look upon this and see no other way.  Orders are orders.  So, how are the rest of us supposed to approach this?  Do we know in our hearts that Jesus has Authority over all things?  If He indeed has authority over all, does He not also have authority over our addictions?  After all, what are addictions but believing in something we're not?  What are addictions but chasing unicorns?  The heroin addict chases the feeling he had with the drug.  For myself, I was chasing my next naked woman.  Not much could replace the feeling I had when I was in that element.  I'm sure there are many former addicts who could testify to that.  There are indeed many things one can become addicted to.  Women, drugs, video games, the list goes on.  The underlying message in all of these is that they make us feel good even though we may be at a dark place in our life.  My life might suck, but I've got something to help me deal with it!  Well, if all we're doing is dealing with our addictions, then we're not really dealing with them the right way.  Until we do that, we will struggle.

The other disciples therefore said to Him, "We have seen the Lord."  So he said to them, "Unless I see His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."  And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them.  Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, "Peace to you!"  Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side.  Do not be unbelieving, but believing.  And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
John 20: 25 - 28 NKJV

I have one piece of advice when dealing with your addictions...DON'T be like Thomas!  My friend who has struggled with His addictions in the past is a Thomas.  He sees...yet he does not believe.  He has been involved in our discussions of Christ in us, yet he still struggles to see this truth.  Sometimes the truth is that simple...do not be unbelieving but believing.  Do we trust that not only is Christ in us {Galatians 2:20}, but that He is all in all?  That is, Jesus is present in all of our Lords creation?  Yes, even in the darkest pit of our addictions.  If we trust that He is all in all, then we trust that He is with us in these dark times as well.  Like I said, this is no time for miracles.  What it is time for is for us to realize who it is we truly are in Christ.  It is Jesus who is in that struggle with us, that comes along with His living in us.  Whatever we experience...He experiences.  One of the thoughts that used to trouble me when I realized the truth of Christ in me was...do I want Jesus to see what it is I am taking pleasure in?  Of course, He always had been there even when I didn't know it.  Do you want Jesus to take that next hit of heroin with you?  Well, in reality that is what's happening each time we feed our addictions.  If we believe in the truth of Christ in us we cannot escape this.  All that we feel He does as well.  All that we suffer He suffers with us.  This is the truth of Christ in us, and how I rid myself of my own addiction.  It is how I came to that point one night not that long ago as I was about to walk into yet another strip club but was stopped in my tracks by one thought.  Standing there that night I wondered, Is this the man that I am?  Of course, I knew that I was more than that.  I am a child of God.  I am heir to His glory.  Despite all of my struggles, it is still Jesus who walks with me through it all.  My life is in no way perfect, but my reality in Christ Jesus is.  There is no situation, addiction or circumstance I encounter that He will not be a intimate part of.  He...is me.  This is not a time for miracles, but a time for the realization of the person we are in Christ Jesus.  THAT is the faith of the centurion at which Jesus marveled.  Do not be unbelieving...but believing.

~Scott~