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Proverbs 30:5

“Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

In John 4:46-54, a local ruler of Capernaum searches for Jesus in Cana, a village of Galilee where Jesus performed His first recorded miracle of changing water to wine at a wedding.

The ruler had heard about all the miracles Jesus had done and sought Him out to help with a desperate situation: he wanted healing for his son who was sick and near death.

When he found Jesus, he asked Him to go with him to Capernaum to heal his son. A reasonable request given the situation. Initially, I found Jesus’ response to this “reasonable request” to be a little unusual. Instead of a “yes or no” answer, He replied:

“Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

Now, the ruler asked if Jesus would go with him personally to heal his son, and Jesus, seemingly, begins talking about another topic…the need of people to see “signs and wonders” before they believe. The ruler, apparently unmoved by Jesus’ response, repeats his request. And here is where “the plot thickens”, so to speak. Jesus tells the ruler:

“Go, your son will live.”

The ruler had a choice to make. He could insist on Jesus traveling with him to visit his son personally like he wanted, or take Jesus at His word and go home.

What would you have done if you were the ruler? Let’s say you’re in the middle of a serious situation…perhaps you received a call from your doctor and your test results came back with a bad diagnosis. Perhaps you found out that your were laid off from your job five minutes after arriving at work. Perhaps the constable knocked on your door and delivered divorce documents from your spouse of fifteen years.

You checked all the “Christian boxes”:

• You attended church enough to hear about Jesus and what He can do
• You sought out Jesus through intense heartfelt prayer (driven by your situation)
• You made a specific request of Jesus of how He can help you
• You may have even sought out “wise counsel” from others
• You waited expectantly for His reply

And what you heard back from Him (through the Spirit, the Word, others or circumstances) may not be what you expected or what you wanted to hear. It may be an unusual next step. Then you have to make a similar choice as the ruler in John 4.

Proverbs 30:5 says that every word of God “proves true”. The word translated “proves true” comes from a Hebrew word that has the idea of refining gold or silver — to make pure. So the word of God has been “refined”, “tried”, and “tested”, and is “pure” enough that it can be trusted — no matter what.

What decision would you have made? Would you have taken Jesus at His word, or would you have insisted that He do things the way you’ve asked? Do you trust Jesus enough to be obedient, or do you have conditions for Him to meet to “earn” your “full” trust? Do you strive to meet Jesus’ expectations, or does Jesus have to meet your expectations ?

John 4:50 states that, “…The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.”

Because he placed trust over meeting his expectations, the ruler left to go home. Because he placed obedience over reasoning, the ruler’s son was healed immediately. Because he found value in the “refined” word of Jesus, salvation came to his entire household.

God’s word has been “tried” and “tested” over thousands of years for billions of people. The next time you seek the Lord for a need, remember that the “refined” word of God is sufficient for every situation.