It's an old story but...
Illustration
It's an old story but it still illustrates the point: The pastor in a dust-bowl congregation announced there would be a prayer service for rain. The farmers had been through enough drought to know that God wasn't likely to unleash the torrents just because they asked him to. And not a few of them had probably decided privately God couldn't do it -- if in fact there was a god.
They all showed up, however, so as not to show a lack of faith. Or so they thought it showed. But only one old grandmother arrived with an umbrella.
In this miracle story the leper, significantly, has no doubt that Jesus can do what he asks him to. Whether Jesus will do what we may ask of him may be another question. But the first step must be that taken by this longsuffering leper, and the lady with the bumbershoot: We must begin by knowing God can do what he in fact can do.
They all showed up, however, so as not to show a lack of faith. Or so they thought it showed. But only one old grandmother arrived with an umbrella.
In this miracle story the leper, significantly, has no doubt that Jesus can do what he asks him to. Whether Jesus will do what we may ask of him may be another question. But the first step must be that taken by this longsuffering leper, and the lady with the bumbershoot: We must begin by knowing God can do what he in fact can do.
