“While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, ‘My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.” – Matthew 9:18-19
Faith would have ceased for most when she drew her last breath. When her chest fell and didn’t rise again, that would have been the time to accept the loss because that’s what makes “sense”.
The story of this religious leader and his remarkable faith leads me to wonder how many times I’ve missed out on a miracle because it didn’t make ‘sense’ to believe any longer.
When another rejection letter comes, I’ve consider it a closed door. But not every door that appears closed actually is.
What first jumps out to me about this man in Matthew’s account of this story is that Jairus wasn’t in denial of the gravity of the situation. His daughter was dead. Life had left her body. Despite this, Jairus was undeterred and precise in what he was asking Jesus for – “…come and put your hand on her, and she will live.”
We find out later in the story that Jesus did exactly what the man asked – he took the girl by the hand and raised her from the dead.
This story has so many lessons that we will break down over the next few days, but one of the main take-away for me is that if I’m expecting God to perform miracles that make sense, my faith is too small. If I stop petitioning God for deliverance once a situation loses all signs of life, how can I expect the extraordinary to happen?
We often confine God to what makes sense to us. We have all these theories and ideas of how God should act and when He should enter the scene. And if he misses ‘His cue’, we throw in the towel and are left feeling discouraged.
What If…
How different this story would have been if Jairus had lost all hope when his daughter died. Many times, it looks like we have lost and yet God is using that as an opportunity to do immeasurably more than what we could ask or imagine.
If Jesus had healed the girl while she was alive, it would have still been a miracle, I’m sure, since her illness was so advanced, but her family’s testimony would not have been as powerful. Sometimes the death of a situation is the prelude to a miracle that will be remembered for generations to come.
Vimbai E. is a content marketer, ghostwriter, and the founder of The Weight She Carries. With hundreds of articles and stories publishing online, in print and for broadcast, her love of language and storytelling shines through every piece of writing that bears her name.