PREPARING THE ATMOSPHERE
‘He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James’. Mark 5: 37 (NIV)
Jesus had just healed the woman with the ‘issue of blood’ and was now heading to Jairus’ home to pray for his daughter who was ill. While taking His time to address the woman’s situation, news came that Jairus’ daughter had died. The last message Jairus heard was, “Why bother the Teacher? Your daughter is dead.” Jesus overhead what they said and told Jairus to keep believing and continued heading for his home. The crowd followed as well, to see a miracle.
Jairus led the way, although those words must have been ringing in his head; “Why bother the Teacher?” It was an attempt by the enemy to stop Jesus from coming to Jairus’ house. There was actually a battle going on in Jairus’ home and Jesus was preparing for it. There was a war raging between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. Demonic powers had struck a fatal blow and a young girl was dead. Jesus’ plan was to release the power of the kingdom of God over the little girl and raise her back to life. This was not the time to be surrounded by fearful, doubting and unbelieving people. So what did Jesus do?
He only permitted those He knew were strong in faith to come along with Him. He stopped the crowd. And notice that out of the twelve disciples nine of them did not make it either. Only the girl’s parents along with Jesus’ core group; Peter, James and John, were allowed in. We have to carefully screen the people we surround ourselves with and listen to in the days ahead. Life is a battle that has to be fought constantly with the weapon of faith. Fear, doubt and unbelief are contagious and quickly spread.
Jairus’ house was full of pretenders and people mourning and crying loudly. Jesus sent them all out before He raised the girl back to life. It might have seemed insensitive to stop the crowd. It might have seemed a little embarrassing to stop the disciples, and certainly, it was not politically correct to throw out those who had come to mourn with the bereaved. But Jesus was on a mission. And so are we!
We cannot walk by faith and walk by feelings at the same time. Jesus’ determined plan was to do everything required to surround Jairus with people of faith and courage.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?
- Surround yourself with people of faith and courage.
- Do your best to avoid people who only see problems and never the solutions.
- Make every effort to create an environment of faith for the miraculous.
- Refuse to allow negative influences from social media, television or any other source, to deter your faith.
- Speak words of faith.
PRAYER DIRECTION
Lord, send the right people into my life, men and women of courage who will strengthen my faith and provoke an atmosphere for the miraculous.
SONG
♬I Stand Amazed by Sinach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEOFjFzXGK4
FURTHER STUDY
Mark 5:35-43 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+5%3A35-43&version=NIV
James 1:5-8 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A5-8&version=NIV
Habakkuk 2:4 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Habakkuk+2%3A4&version=NKJV
