ONLY BELIEVE

• DAY 209
• FAITH FILE: JARIUS
• SCRIPTURES: LUKE 8:40-50

So it was, when Jesus returned, that the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”

LUKE 8:40-42; 49-50

I’m a daughter and based on my personal experience and observation of other daughters, fathers tend to have a special love and bond with their daughters. They have this affinity towards their daughters especially the first. Developmental Psychologists agree with this too. There is a bond that fathers share with daughters and mothers share with their sons and a contention that fathers share with sons and mothers, share with daughters, especially in their adolescence and teenage years. So you can imagine how Jairus must have felt when his ONLY daughter was sick and dying.

Whether it’s an only daughter, a first daughter, or a son, a parent always hurts when they see their child in these kinds of situations. This father was afraid for his little girl, and he didn’t mind going far to go seek Jesus. I’ve gone through my fair share of losses, but I’ve never lost a child, and that’s a pain I don’t want to experience because I’ve seen it in my mother’s eyes. Losing a child hurts. So when this father comes before Jesus, he is not coming like somebody who has an option. He is coming with everything that he has and throwing himself at Jesus’ feet, begging Him with everything He holds. “Dear Lord, come and heal my daughter,” he says. [I beg you, I don’t want to bury her, I want to see her alive. Come with me.] And Jesus agrees to go with him. But we have an interruption, a woman interjects the journey of Jesus to Jarius’ house. All of a sudden, Jesus stops to ask, “Who is touching me?”

From Bad To Worse

Imagine what is going through Jarius’ mind. Who is touching you? People are around you, Jesus. Please, sir, don’t focus on anybody else but my daughter. Come with me so that we can go and heal my daughter. Please, she’s all I have and she is dying. But Jesus was attending to somebody who touched him. Put yourself in Jairus’ shoes. That would be when your top gasket is about to blow. You’d be about to lose your mind on Jesus. But we don’t hear Jairus do that. To make matters worse, a message came to Jarius while all this was happening, “Don’t bother the teacher anymore. Don’t disturb Him, She that was dying is now dead, He doesn’t need to come anymore.” In the midst of looking for help, the situation got worse.

Does that sound familiar? Sometimes things get worse when we come close to help. At the moment when we start praying, the pressure increases. They said God would help with the rent, but as you started to call on Him, a quit notice came. Now what do you do? The situation is hopeless. You can hear the negative thoughts start to creep up, why are you still praying? Why are you still believing? Heaven helps those who help themselves and so on. At that moment, it can feel like there is nothing more to be done. But permit me to sound like a motivational speaker, the sky is the darkest just before dawn.

On hearing the message brought to Jarius, Jesus said something to him that He is saying to you today, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” 

Beloved, no matter how difficult that situation is or how worse it has become, keep believing. If you can only believe, God can change healing to a resurrection. What have you lost hope on? Only believe and God will turn it around.

Shalom.