Fear Not – Only Believe – And you will be made whole
Wow! Words that seem so steep to our minds. To our broken hearts. An uphill mountain to climb with peaks beyond our view. The journey of one father at the feet of Jesus may have seem wasted. It may have even seemed ridiculous to the onlookers.
But in his gentleness, Christ tells him, fear not, believe only, and she will be made whole.
We read that and some of us long to know and own those words. Fear Not. But what does it take to be made whole?
There are two stories intertwined in the latter verses of Luke 8. We will look at the story of a desperate father to save the life of his dying daughter as we continue to learn from the people who sought life at the feet of Jesus.
Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds -almost crushed him. Luke 8:41-42
Immediately after this, a very sick woman touches Jesus’ robe and is healed. Jesus stops to take the time to talk with her before He continues onto Jairus’ house.
The people had heard Jesus was coming, so the crowd was ready when he arrived.
Jairus’ daughter, his only daughter, was near death. He comes and the scene is crazy. There are so many people and yet Jairus falls at his feet and begs Jesus to come with him.
There are so many things we can learn from these two verses about Christ but I want to point out two things we can take a hold of right now.
He is a personal God. Each life matters. No matter how many people are around, He cares for each individual case.
He can handle all that is around Him. The day was crazy. Crowds pushing in on Him and He calmly stops to heal and talk to another woman before continuing to the house of Jairus.
While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. "Your daughter is dead," he said. "Don't bother the teacher anymore." (NIV) But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. (KJV) Luke 8: 49-50
I love verse fifty. Fear not! – Believe Only! – And she will be made whole!
First, Christ is telling this father to fear not. When Christ tells us to fear not it is because he is capable of the end result. It may be healing, it may not and while that may seem of no consolation, notice Christ will make her whole. Not just alive, not just well, but whole.
I don’t want us to miss this train of events he is telling this father.
Fear Not – Believe Only – Hope Restored!
In this case, Christ chooses to heal this little girl. He goes into the house with the mother, father, and four of His disciples. He takes the girl by the hand, tells her to rise-up, and restores her spirit to her lifeless body.
Praise the Lord! He has made her whole. He brought hope to a hurting family.
This father, who agonizes over his dying daughter hears in the process of seeking his last bit of hope that she is dead. This was heart-wrenching news and it may appear that all hope was lost.
That moment you hear or see that the life of your loved one is gone. The sinking agonizing feeling is crushing to your soul. For a time, it may seem as if all hope is lost but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Jesus came that it could be different.
He is not saying, “don’t mourn” to this father. He is telling Him to not fear. Us telling that to a friend or loved one may be of no comfort, but Christ, he is the difference maker here.
He tells the father to not fear because He has the power to restore the hope. That train, he can get it moving. He can move us from fear to hope.
Here is the other difference maker. It is the stop in between the fear and the hope. It is the faith to believe that only He can conquer one to restore the other.
What happens at the feet of Jesus here?
He gives this father a life changing opportunity to lay aside his fear, take ahold of his faith, and let Christ restore his hope.
What does that mean for you? What are you facing right now that you so desperately want to hope that there is a way to feel whole again? How has Christ showed up in your fear or are you still holding onto it not quite sure how to Believe Only?
Is your faith hanging in the balance not sure which way it will fall? Do you know the difference maker? Do you believe he can make a difference in YOU?
I would love to continue this conversation. Leave a comment below.
Email me at youresewtrendy@gmail.com, if you want to know more about the life-changing decision to follow Christ, I would love to talk with you.
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In this case, Christ chooses to heal this little girl. He goes into the house with the mother, father, and four of His disciples. He takes the girl by the hand, tells her to rise-up, and restores her spirit to her lifeless body.
