Father, You deserve the credit for this day! A wonderful online “service”. It was a beautiful day to be outside for a bit. We got to talk with Massey. In the midst of all the craziness the world is in right now, I am blessed!
Luke 8:41-42, 49-56 (<<click to read the passage)
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. Romans 8:28 (AMP)
I started to write something very similar to this verse and then I thought of this verse and figured the Apostle Paul said it better than I would’ve anyway!
This passage reflects how I feel about where I find myself right now. I keep thinking, “All we are hearing and seeing and talking about and thinking about these days is the coronavirus. We need a break! I should write something uplifting…something to get our minds off of what is happening around us.”
And then comes along my sermon this morning on the 23rd Psalm, which spoke of the comfort and care we get from God – what better message do we need from Him in times like these?
And where I find myself in Luke’s Gospel, it all points to finding ourselves in dire situations – the demon-possessed man, the woman that couldn’t stop bleeding…and today, a dying little girl, the only child of a mom and dad, who dies before Jesus can get to her.
We are living in challenging times, but God is there for us. A line in my sermon today said, “When we lean into Him, He’ll lean into us.” Isn’t it comforting to know that He is there for us? He is not offish. He doesn’t hold us at arm’s length. We are cherished and adored by our Creator!
So, on to today’s passage.
Friday, I asked you to imagine a twelve-year-old girl. She is beautiful, as all girls are, right? But in this case, when Jairus came to Jesus his only child was so ill that she was close to death.
Anyone with a child can readily put himself or herself emotionally in Jairus’s place. His daughter had died while they were on the way home. Luke did not record it, but the poor man probably cried out in grief. Jesus surely felt the father’s very human grief. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Again, Luke didn’t record Jairus’s reaction to these words, but Jairus must have had at least some flicker of hope because he did complete his mission in bringing Jesus to his house. When you experience intense grief… don’t abandon hope. Don’t turn away from the one Person who can help you. Do what Jairus did: Don’t be afraid; just have faith. Your hope is found in the resurrected Lord, the one with power over life and death. *
During these trying days, continue to turn to the one Person who can help. His eternal word is as true today as it was 2,000 years ago, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Mar 29th, 2020, Sun, 7:12 pm
