Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” John 4:46–49
The first real believer in my immediate family was my mom. She came to a deep faith in Jesus Christ when God healed her at a women’s prayer meeting. In this supernatural moment, God used an unleashing of His power to bring my mom to faith.
Growing up, I was not a believer. I later became a Christian in college, largely through persuasion. At the state university, I was required to read a host of philosophers and wade through their varying views of God and the Bible. I did not have a life crisis or a supernatural event like a healing that brought me to faith, but God slowly revealed Himself to me through my studies.
Generally speaking, most people come to faith in Jesus Christ either through power or persuasion. With his little boy sick and nearing death, a frantic father jumped on a horse and travelled the 18 miles to Jesus as fast as he could. What that man wanted was God’s power to heal his son. Knowing this, Jesus clearly said that he would not be converted apart from a demonstration of divine power.
Jesus healed this man’s little boy, which led to his salvation as well as the salvation of his entire household, probably including his immediate family and their likely large number of servants.
God is incredibly gracious to deal with people according to their individual needs. He is incredibly creative in the way that He brings people to Himself by using our varying life circumstances.
How about you: How did you or your family come to faith? Was it mainly by power or persuasion?