(Mark 5:36, 37 NIV) Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
This morning we continueI trust you are enjoying the story of Jairus and his daughter. We have lots to learn from this situation. One of the key lessons is something I brought yesterday when I said, "If you can't speak faith, then keep your mouth shut! That's what Jairus did and he got his breakthrough!" Jairus was in no condition to speak the language of faith. The gravity of the situation (the reality of his daughter's death) was sinking-in and if he had spoken, his words would not have been faith-filled at that point. The key objective of the enemy was to get Jairus to tell Jesus to STOP, so that He would never arrive at the house. Satan knew that he had no power over Jesus and that there was no way he could stop Jesus from raising the little girl back to life once he was on the scene. That's why he attached Jairus and not Jesus. By telling Jairus to stop bothering the master, the enemy was hoping that Jairus would simply tell Jesus to go away. If Jairus had done that his daughter would never have been raised from the dead.
Why? Because I have taught you before that God will allow whatever we allow. God will permit whatever we permit. He is not going to force us to be blessed. He won't twist our arm so that we could accept His best. Our heavenly Father definitely wants to operate in our lives, but He does so with our cooperation.
If Jairus refused to cooperate then Jesus would not have operated. This is extremely important for every believer to understand, especially when we are facing stressful situations. Without realizing it many believers have hindered God from moving in their lives because they have followed the negative suggestions of the enemy - suggestions that lead to fear, doubt, and unbelief; suggestions that wind up canceling out our faith and blocking God's best from manifesting in our lives.
The good news is that Jesus stopped Jairus before he said anything and told him to keep on believing. Guess what? Jairus did not say a word. I believe that since he was not in a position to speak the language of faith, he simply kept his mouth shut and there is a lot of wisdom in that. By keeping his mouth shut Jesus was able to operate off of his last words and continue on to his house. But Jesus knew that since the situation had taken a turn for the worse that He needed to be surrounded by faith-filled people. So He stopped the crowd and even stopped 9 of the 12 disciples from going any further.
When the rubber met the road Jesus only wanted His inner-circle (Peter, James, and John) with Him. There were times where Jesus was comfortable being with the 5,000, other times just with the 70, other times with the 12, and then there were times, the most intimate times, when He only wanted the three (Peter, James, and John) with Him. We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you? A few things:
1. If you want God to operate in your life, you must cooperate with Him - in faith!
2. Don't allow your mouth to ensnare you; speak faith only or don't speak at all.
3. When you are dealing with a difficult situation you must surround yourself with people of 'like-precious-faith.' If you surround yourself with the wrong people you will hear the wrong things.
4. You need an 'inner-circle;' a small group of people you can rely on when the going gets rough. These are people who will be there for you and you for them.
Father, I thank You for this revelation. I declare, by faith, that I will cooperate with You every day of my life. I know that faith pleases You, so I will live by faith daily. I am so committed to living the life of faith that I refuse to speak any words of fear, doubt, or unbelief. If I can't speak faith I won't say anything until I can! And I thank You for blessing me to have an 'inner-circle.' I can rely on them and they can rely on me. When I truly need a breakthrough I know I can call them and they can call me. We pray for each other, speak life into each other, and are there for each other. I am thankful that I am not in this race alone. You have blessed me with people of like-precious-faith and together we maximize our purposes and potential! In Jesus' name. Amen!
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