ON THE FAITH SIDE

What a terrible scene occurred at the house of Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue in Jesus’ day. There was confusion, doubt, fear, and wailing when his daughter died.

Mark 5:38-40 reads: “And [Jesus] cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.”

Beloved, let me tell you why there is so much commotion in your life, so much grieving and mourning. It is because you do not believe that Jesus can resurrect what is dead. You do not believe He knows what He is doing. You do not believe He has a life-giving plan. You think He is too late and that things have gone too far. You can't believe Jesus is still at work—when you have already given up.

We are every bit as guilty as those scoffers were. We too cry out to God in our trouble, demanding that He answer us before it’s too late. Then, when the answer doesn’t come, we turn into mourners. We tremble before the power of the devil, as if demons have won the victory—as if Jesus has lost and the devil has won!

Things often go from bad to worse, and finally we say, “That’s it! It’s too late. For some reason or another, the Lord is not going to rescue this situation.”

It is not enough to love, serve, and worship Him only up to the point of hopelessness. What about trusting Him now that all hope is gone? When it looks as if you will never land a job? Or when things pile up on all sides—when it appears humanly impossible to go on?

If Jesus walked into your present situation, what would He find? How would you react to Him? Would you still grieve? Would your heart still be in turmoil? I hope you would say to Him, “Lord, it looks hopeless. I was about to give up, but You are the same today as You were at the house of Jairus. You can bring life out of death and You can heal this problem.”