Recently a Bible character has been on my mind. The more I think about him, the more I am amazed by his faith. The man I am talking about is Jairus.

His daughter was on the verge of death and so he went to where Jesus was and begged Him to come to his house and heal her. Jesus, being touched by the father’s cry, got up and started following the man towards his house. A crowd was gathered and so I’m sure they weren’t moving very fast, but they were making progress. Suddenly, Jesus stopped and said “who touched me?” At this point in the story Jairus could have spoken up and said, “excuse me Master, I was the first in line. My daughter is gasping for breath and every moment matters. Please, please Lord, deal with this situation later. My daughter is dying Lord, don’t you understand? You are her only hope and we have absolutely no time to stop!! ” We do not, however, hear anything about Jairus raising his voice to contest.

Jesus stoped and a woman falls before him who had been bleeding for years. She had touched the hem of His garment and was healed. “Daughter”, Jesus said, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction.” While Jesus was still speaking, a group that had been at Jairus’ house, came by. “Your daughter is dead”, they said, “why bother the Teacher any more?” I’m sure at this point Jairus’ heart sank. His little girl was gone, and they might have made it to the house had this interruption not taken place. His friends were were telling him to give up hope and let Jesus go on His way. Again, however, we hear nothing about Jairus blaming Jesus or even telling Him He was too late.

Jesus turned to him and said, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” Jairus then could have said, “thanks Jesus, but my daughter just died. Belief, will do me no good at this point.” Instead we see the man continuing to lead Jesus to his home.

Outside of his house a crowd was already gathered. They were weeping and wailing loudly. Do we see Jairus joining the crowd at this point and mourning the loss of his daughter. Does he put on sack cloth and ashes and tell the Master to go His way. Nope, none of that.

Jesus then says that there was no need to cry because the girl was not dead; she was only sleeping. Jairus could have laughed in disbelief along with the crowd. He could have said in anger, “ok Jesus, now you have gone too far. My daughter is no longer breathing and her little body is stiff. She IS dead Jesus and You missed the boat”, but we don’t. Next, Jesus went into the house and took one look at the little girl. “Get up!” He said. In an instant she got up and began to walk. I imagine Jairus began weeping with joy to see the smile on his little girl’s face as she jumped into his arms and gave him a giant hug.

Jairus faced many obstacles to get to his miracle. He faced a huge, time devouring, interruption. The fact is, someone else was receiving the very thing he was asking for. Others were trying to convince hime to give up; that it was too late. He faced having to trust in the impossible. He saw his dead daughter, but he chose to believe that Jesus could defy all odds and bring his daughter to life. What faith this man had!

My friends, in the face of our dire situation, may we choose to believe as Jairus did. May we be happy for the miracles others have gotten, even if it delays ours. May we not listen to the voice of the crowd telling us to give up crying out to Jesus because all hope is gone.

“Lord, even when expectations are shattered and our dreams die, may we trust that You can bring life to the situation and turn it for our good. Thank you for being a good and loving Father. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray – Amen.”