(Mark 5:22-24 NIV) Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.
We have been dealing with Jairus all week and this story will take us into next week. I don't know if you can tell, but I love the Word, I love these stories, and I love reading about how Jesus lived His life. So there they were. Jairus had already fallen at Jesus' feet and made his declaration of faith, Jesus had already agreed to go to his house and to lay hands on his daughter so that she would be healed and live, and they all (Jesus, Jairus, the disciples, and the crowd) took off towards Jairus' house. I can imagine the scene and I can imagine what was going through Jairus' head. If it were me I would be thinking, "Wow, I did it. I got Jesus to come with me and now my little girl is going to be all right. We just need to hurry up and get home so that this ordeal can be over."
I am sure Jairus' emotions were going haywire between the excitement of the anticipation of the healing and the stress of all he had been through to that point. These are the types of emotions that we often deal with in the space between the prayer and the performance. If we are not careful we will allow the stress of the situation to get the best of us and if that happens we might give up on our prayer. And that's exactly what the enemy wants us to do.
Because of the urgency of the situation and because Jairus was leading them to the house, I am sure this was no leisurely stroll; they were probably walking at a good pace when all off a sudden Jesus stopped, looked around and asked, "Who touched my clothes?" The disciples were baffled by the question. They answered: "What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you're asking, 'Who touched me?' Dozens have touched you!" But Jesus went on asking and looking around to see who had done it. You know who did it, because you already know about the woman with the issue of blood. The woman, knowing what had happened, fell at His feet and gave Him the whole story. There is no telling how long this took. While we can all respect this woman's right to give her testimony, in the wings was man who was running out of time. The more the woman talked the more Jairus (humanly speaking) wanted her to shut up. I am sure he appreciated the gravity of this woman's situation, but I am equally sure that he was still consumed with the gravity of his. While Jesus was finally wrapping up His conversation with the woman some messengers came Jairus' house and said, "Your daughter is dead, why bother the teacher any more?" Oh no! That's exactly what Jairus feared would happen. What a blow! Every negative emotion imaginable to man probably flooded his body. But while Jairus was standing there, in this state of shock and pain, Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; just believe." In other words, "Don't allow fear to cancel out your faith; just keep on believing and your daughter will be all right!" We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you ? It means that your faith will be tested. Don't think that you will pray something one minute and you will see the manifestation of it the next, without any opposition. We do have an enemy and he knows that he cannot stop God and he actually cannot stop us when we are in-faith, but he also knows that if he can get us frustrated and in-fear that we wind up stopping ourselves. I will further elaborate on this next week. No matter how hot the enemy turns the heat up, you must refuse to give up on your faith, because in due season you shall reap, if you don't give up! (Gal 6:9).
Father, I thank You for not giving up on me and I declare, by faith, that I shall not give up on You. I will not loose the grip I have on my faith and I shall not throw away my confidence, even if the situation gets worse before it gets better and even if the enemy turns the heat up on me. The enemy knows that the only way he can beat me is if I give up and I am learning that now. Equipped with this revelation I am determined to never give up, to never throw in the towel, to never relax my anticipation of the manifestation of Your promises in my life. I rule over my emotions and I refuse to allow my emotions to cause me to give up on my prayers. I remain in faith, no matter how long it takes, and I shall see Your best come to pass in my life! In Jesus' name. Amen!
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