If we had Faith for That, do we have Faith for This?

I recently delivered a sermon entitled: 'We had Faith for That, but do we have Faith for This'. The title of the sermon is based around the story of a man by the name of Jairus; which is found in Mark 5 (new testament by the way {smile}).

The story opens with this man, who is said to have been a leader in one of the local synagogues, coming and bowing himself at the feet of Jesus asking, perhaps pleading with Jesus to come to his home and heal his daughter; who was "at the point of death". And, as this story progresses (after the "on the way to jairus' house miracle with the woman with the issue of blood") someone comes from Jairus' home with news that his daughter has died. One of the more interesting statements in this story are the words spoken by the individual from Jairus' home; when he said: "your daughter is dead, so why bother the Master any further".

It was that very statement which caused me to really pause and wonder, "why would he say that?" As I thought about what may have taken place at Jairus' home prior to him going to find Jesus, and pleading for Him to come to his home and heal his daughter. Could there have been a discussion with those in the home, and did the discussion include trusting what has been said and done by Jesus to date, and could this have been the discussion that prompted Jairus to seek out Jesus?

I can imagine everyone who was there in the home at the time of Jairus' departure were all on the same page; believing that this Jesus could in fact 'Heal' the daughter of Jairus. They had the Faith for That! However, when the daughter died before Jairus returned with Jesus; the Faith for her healing was now a moot point.

As you read the story and the word is given that his daughter was now dead, and don't worry about bringing the Master to your home, because it's now pointless, Jesus immediately speaks to Jairus and tells him not to be afraid, only believe.

Those very words spoken to Jairus over 2000 years ago are just as applicable to us today. We are able to find our story when reading about Jairus. There isn't many of us who have sought the Lord, in Faith, for a situation and while waiting for the Lord to come to our aide; that situation worsened. And, if you allow me to be transparent for a moment (only a moment). When my situation worsened, I immediately thought to myself, 'Well, that's that...' And, it was as if the Lord, Himself spoke to me as He did to Jairus, and said, "Don't be afraid, only Believe."

I realized that I no longer needed to have a Bazillion different levels of Faith, but rather only one level of Faith and that is Faith in Him.

As long as we are human, we will frequently run into these types of moments. And, when we do I would that we remember the words spoken to Jairus...Don't Be Afraid, Only Believe.

The answer to the question is simple: "If we had Faith for That, do we have Faith for This?" Answer: Yes