The Roman centurion's personal servant was going to die.  Despairing, he had asked the Jewish elders to see if Jesus would help; but shortly before Jesus was due to arrive, the centurion changed his mind.  He sent his friends to Jesus with another message, to stop Jesus coming, saying that he was unworthy of Jesus coming to his house.  The powerful soldier was in awe of Jesus, because when the Lord spoke, things happened: by His word, demons were cast out and the sick were healed (Matthew 8:16).  It was clear that Jesus had a superior authority to him.

Two things are happening in the heart and mind of the senior military officer.  Firstly, he really did believe that Jesus could heal the servant.  But secondly, if Jesus had such power to heal and bless, might He not also have power to destroy and curse somebody who helped lead the forces occupying Israel (Joshua 1:18)?   Looking into his own heart, the proximity of divine power was too awesome to tolerate (Luke 5:8).   However, he believed that if Jesus spoke, the servant’s fatal disease would be cured (Psalm 107:20).

Faith is all about trusting the character of a person and the words they say without seeing their fulfilment (Hebrews 11:1; Hebrews 11:6).  Faith motivates us to take action because we believe that the trusted character will fulfil whatever has been promised.  That is the essence of trusting Jesus.  Sometimes, the action required is to do nothing, and wait for God to act.  That is how it was for the centurion.  He demonstrated his faith by pulling back from asking Jesus to visit, because he believed that one word of command from Jesus (without any physical demonstration or touch) would be enough.

Faith in God starts when we acknowledge that we are not worthy, but Jesus is.  The proof of faith is obedience, and sometimes that means actively restraining ourselves from taking our own action, and allowing God to be seen to act.  It is hard to be still and know that one word from God and the job is done (Psalm 37:7).  Sometimes, an inner evil urge convinces us that 'something must be done', and we confuse activity for obedience (1 Chronicles 21:1).  An action is only obedience if the Lord has given the command to do it.  Perhaps the Lord is taking us through times when we should do nothing, except to wait for His powerful word to be fulfilled (Psalm 27:14).  If, today, He is calling you to stand still while He works, any activity is disobedience!  Wait for the Lord to show His powerful hand.