When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as [the lepers] were on their way, they were cleansed.

When I was dealing with a troubling affliction, I imagined the lighthearted ways I would celebrate once I was free of this thing. But I sensed the Lord saying, “Since My word says that you’re already healed by My stripes, start celebrating now.” This very much went against the way I felt; however, I wrote out a list of the five things I had in my head to do to celebrate, and one by one, began to act on them.

One of the more lavish things I’d planned was eating out at an ethnic restaurant that I hadn’t been to in years. It wasn’t easy to spend the money for this excursion when my heart wasn’t in it. But, I did.

When Jesus healed people, it was almost always predicated by an act of faith on their part. The ten lepers were still leprous when Jesus told to show themselves to the priest, but their departure to see the priest under Mosaic Law (Leviticus 14:2-3) was the act of faith that engaged the power of God.

Sometimes we are waiting for God to manifest His healing power or to change circumstances, but often He is asking us to take a step of faith. Or, He may be telling us simply to “rest.”

Obedient faith affects those around us 

Well before we had the funds raised to expand our church, the Lord told the man spearheading this project, “Go get the building permits.” The Lord confirmed His word through another believer outside of our church a short time later.

When a young woman at our church reached out to her neighbor, she was rebuffed and ignored. This young woman had prayed for the family that would move in to the house nearby long before they met. Undaunted, she continued in kindness and patience to try to connect with her from time to time. Eventually, her neighbor came to church and brought her family. Months later, this same neighbor woman was powerfully delivered after prayer by church leadership, so that her husband commented on the dramatic change in her countenance. And a little later still, this same woman whom the young lady at our church pursued, went on to host a women’s event that touched ladies from all over the region, ministering to both her adoptive and biological mothers, baptizing the latter!

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! As you have believed, so will it be done for you.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.” (Matthew 8:12). The centurion’s servant benefited from his master’s faith. So did the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him down the roof:

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven…take up your bed and walk’.” (Mark 2:5, 11).

Many times what the Lord is asking us to do seems foolish or counterintuitive. Like Naaman (2 Kings 5), we can stumble over the sheer simplicity of acting on it. And yet, obedience to God’s word and a dogged adherence to His promises in the face of conflicting circumstances sets off a chain reaction of righteousness that impacts others.

What is the Lord asking you to do in this hour that requires a measure of faith?