While they were at a distance, 10 lepers called out to Jesus for healing.  After approaching closer, he gave them the instruction to go and show themselves to the priest, fulfilling the law by giving the evidence of their being made clean.  Scripture then tells us that it was “along the way” that they were healed.  Did you notice that they left and began their visit to the priests without having been healed?

Often times, we expect immediate results, not only in daily life, but even more so in prayer.  We want our prayers to be answered immediately and healing to take place at once.  If we pray and there doesn’t seem to be an answer or change right away, we tend to presume that it means our prayers were not answered, that our request denied (for whatever reason God may have), or that we need to continue praying or possibly do some other work of fasting and sacrifice.  Even though most of the lepers did not return to give thanks to Jesus for their healing, they all left immediately and trusted his words, even though there was no visible evidence.  This is Faith.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, or it is like yeast that has been worked into the full measure of flour and over time, the whole loaf is raised, but it takes time to take effect.  Or to put it in another way, rising bread needs time to proof.  

One of the forgotten aspects of faith is proof, not in having proof of the object of our faith.  The lepers did not ask for any sign or proof of their eventual cleansing.  But rather, proof of our faith.  Just like leaven and the growth of a seed, faith has an effect (and affect) in us over time.  

Particularly in the spiritual life, we want to see results immediately.  We want, and often even expect, that if we love Christ we will instantly be transformed into Saints.  Even more than being free from committing any sin whatsoever, we can think that we shouldn’t even be tempted to sin, that we have no more lustful thoughts, never get frustrated or our patience strained.  I think that many of us have an image in mind that as soon as we come to Christ, we will become like the paralytic who immediately stood up and carried his mat away. 

Faith changes us, purifies us and heals us over time.  Our Lord himself said more than once: It is your faith that has healed you.  And we saw evidence that those without faith could not be healed.  This was not because of a lack of strength or ability of our Lord, but because Faith is something real and has its effects.

Healing and cleaning require us to walk in Faith.  It is accomplished somewhere along the way.  Keep your faith and persevere,