Journeying with Jesus, His 4th Invitation: YOU CAN TRUST JESUS’ WORD

Jesus invites you to trust his word. More specifically, Jesus invites you to trust his word with things dear and precious to you.

This may sound like an impossible invitation. You grew up in a family where a parent said one thing and did another. Perhaps you are in a painful situation right now because someone failed to keep their word.  Because your past is littered with painful lies and broken promises, trust does not come easily.

If you’ve been lied to repeatedly, why should you trust Jesus’ word?

In the gospel of John, we read about a man whose son was dying.  “Sir, the official said, ‘come down before my child dies’” (John 4:49).  Nothing was more precious to this official than his son.

What does Jesus tell the man? “Go, your son will live” (John 4:50).  Jesus asks the official to trust him. 

The father came to Jesus wanting more than a promise. He wanted Jesus to come down to the village of Capernaum where his son lay dying.  He was hoping for some kind of obvious, tangible intervention from Jesus. The man came to Jesus for a miracle. 

Jesus did not give the father exactly what he wanted. Rather, he gave the father a promise. 

Even though the father came to Jesus for more, he accepted what Jesus gave him. The text tells us, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed” (John 4:50).

Where would you like to experience Jesus’ intervention in your life today? Your marriage? A relationship with a child? Your work situation? An uncertain future? Something else?

As you think about this situation, you come to Jesus hoping for an immediate, powerful intervention. Instead, Jesus gives you his word, and asks you to trust him.

What is the word Jesus gives to you? On the one hand, it’s as big as all of the promises in the Bible (see 2 Corinthians 1:20). On the other hand, it’s the assurance of his presence, and the promise that he is at work in your situation.

If you have trusted in Jesus’ word before, let me ask: Has he ever failed to keep his word? If you need to trust him for the first time, I’m confident that sooner or later the father’s experience will be yours.