Reading through the gospel of Mark recently I had made a note to come back to this chapter and these verses. Let me just say, I am not a reader. I don’t like it. I sound like my 8 year old when it’s time to do homework. I’ve just always been this way and I find myself starting a book only to never finish it. When it comes to the Word, I never have this problem. I’m wide eyed and eager to get started. Nothing could ever distract me from this reading. I can’t wait to read.
Well… at least that’s what you’d expect me to say. But I won’t. I do enjoy reading through the Word. I love to hear what God has to say to me and I enjoy learning of His ways. However, I still have the same problem. It’s just me when it comes to sitting still and reading. So I have taught myself to limit what I read through. To eat smaller portions so to speak. Some days it may be a lonely verse maybe two. No matter how much or little I read, I ask God to smack me in the face with a message or a teaching or something as I read. And He didn’t disappoint here. Though it took me three days to get through these verses, as I read the last verse it came together as one beautiful message to me. There is a lot wrapped up here in this chapter and these verses but I want to look at two things that I really took away from them. Two points that really stuck out to me. Faith and patience.
Verses 23 and 24 tell us that Jairus had faith and threw himself at the feet of Jesus in hopes Christ would save his daughter. Jesus never hesitated and went with him. Along the way, something else happened. Something remarkable. As Jesus walked through the crowds a woman touched His garment in faith. She was in search of healing that no medicine had been able to provide. “Who touched my garment?” Christ would say in vs. 30. Now, many would have touched His garment. He was in a crowd. People all around. His disciples were a bit perplexed at this and asked how he could ask such a question. They probably thought it could have been anyone.
But this touch was different. Jesus was aware of this woman’s faith. She had faith and believes if she could just touch His garments she would be healed. There was no doubt in her and because of her faith, she was healed. No fanfare, no pomp and circumstance, just faith. Christ even took the time to seek out this woman. He was aware of instantly her faith. Now what about Jairus. What is he now thinking. Why have we stopped. She’s healed, that’s great, now let’s go. What would you or even I think. We need to move along. My daughter is dying.
Often times we may have faith and no patience or maybe patience and no faith. More often we probably need both. Christ would eventually make it to the young girl, and He would even bring her back from death. But it was not done as Jairus may have anticipated it be done. It was done how Christ had planned it to be done. It was done by His will.
Many of us have touched God. We may talk about how much we’ve reached out to Him in our struggles. But like the woman in these verses, have we touched Him in faith. Have we touched Him in a way as she did with no doubt that He could heal. Maybe we have started in faith but struggled after getting no answers. Or maybe the answers we did isn’t the result we had hoped for. Maybe you’ve lost faith because you have no patience.
Christ tells us that He will provide our every need. He tells us that faith as small as a mustard seed will move mountains. He also tells us that because of such faith, we as believers will face trials and times of persecution, times of heartache and struggle. And we must be prepared for them all. 1 Corinthians 13:7 tells us that “faith bears all things.”
We must place our faith in Christ. We must have hope knowing that whatever the outcome, that outcome has been laid out perfectly through Jesus Christ. Things may not turn out how we expect or anticipate them to, but one thing is for sure, it will certainly be what He has planned. Psalm 18:30 tells us His ways are perfect. We should take great assurance in knowing this. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says it so perfectly…”Give thanks in all things, for this is Gods will concerning you.”
Have faith and pray for patience.
– Tim