"Lord, give me the faith"

When Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, heard that his beloved daughter was dead, he faced an ultimate test for his faith. He was obliged to look at death in the face. Imagine the chaos and confusion in his home when he and Jesus arrived. I see Jairus' wife collapsing in his arms, crying : "Where were you? It's too late. Our precious little girl is gone !"

According to the custom of the time, professional mourners wept and yelled. But when Jesus saw all this, He said to the gathered : "Why do you make noise, and why do you weep? The child is not dead, but she sleeps" (Mark 5:39). What was their reaction ? "They mocked him" (Mark 5:40).

Beloved, this scene illustrates what the Lord asks of each one of us. We must walk to the point of our confusion, with death, terror and mockery that look up to us and obey this saying : "Fear not, believe only !"

We do not know whether the faith of Jairus held fast or whether his heart was crushed by fear. All we know is that everyone was stunned by what happened next. Jesus took the little girl by the hand and said : "Girl, get up, I tell you. Immediately the girl arose, and began to walk" (5: 41-42).

We must remember the words of Jesus again and again - facing despair and death, when all possibilities are exhausted and nothing can be done : "Do not be afraid, only believe." You may say to yourself : "But I suffer so much, I do not have the strength to believe. I am too weak, too overwhelmed by all this. "Even when years have passed since we met the Lord, we still find ourselves praying : "Lord, You must put faith in me. I can not believe for myself." But know that the Holy Spirit is faithful to do this work. He will never fail to do so. We must stand on the Word of God - despite all the pain and suffering, despite all the weaknesses of the flesh, as Jairus and the woman to the loss of blood have done.

David Wilkerson