The other day while riding, my wife and I came up on some construction. You know the kind, a man stands with a sign that says "Stop" on one side and "Slow" on the other.
As we stood there, waiting for the oncoming traffic that was using our lane, I watched a large truck come around a corner. I thought, how interesting it was that he was using our lane, coming right at us, but there was no danger to us at all.
Why was there no danger from getting hit by that truck?
Because we had made the simple choice to obey the man with the sign. We waited because he said so. Even before we could see the oncoming traffic around the bend,, we sat and we waited.
What would have happened if we decided not to obey? What would it have been like as that truck turned the corner?
Reading Luke 17:11-16 (NIV)
"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
They had asked Jesus for healing, and he gave them instruction. It is clear the healing came after the obedience, and not before.
Faith sometimes requires obedience without an answer.
We can't always see why we need to obey, but in the end it is always for our best.
