Remember the
paralyzed man in the Biblical Capernaum,
how he was carried by four of men? They could not get him to Jesus because of
the crowd, yet the men refused to give up. They made an opening in the roof
above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying
on. Among other things, it was their hard work along with faith that impressed Jesus who then said
to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
What about
the wedding at Cana in Galilee where Jesus turned water into wine? Most times,
people don’t refer to the efforts of the servants who had to fill six stone
jars to the brim with water, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
And lest we
forget the encounter a widow had with Prophet Elisha. The prophet could have performed some “abracadabra” to make the jar become
multiplied in numbers. Rather, he directed her to first go get a lot of
empty vessels (which she borrowed from
neighbors). It was only then the poor woman was able to fill all the vessels with oil.
Out there
are too many folks who are practically folding their arms while waiting for
some miracles to happen in their careers, marriages, relationships, business ventures and life
generally. They call it faith. But ask them what they are doing to bring about
the manifestation of their faiths and they glare at you as if you are of
little faith. They see great things happening in the lives of others and
automatically attribute them to some mere luck. If only they can move closer to
behold the other persons’ many painstaking efforts.
