impossible

Mark 5:21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,23 pleading fervently with him. "My little daughter is dying," he said. "Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live."


  24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.27 She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.28 For she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed."29 Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.


  30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my robe?"


  31 His disciples said to him, "Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, 'Who touched me?'"


  32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.34 And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over."


  35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, "Your daughter is dead. There's no use troubling the Teacher now."


  36 But Jesus overheard* them and said to Jairus, "Don't be afraid. Just trust me."


  37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn't let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.39 He went inside and asked, "Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn't dead; she's only asleep."


  40 The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.41 Holding her hand, he said to her, "Talitha koum," which means "Little girl, get up!"42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.



Both the woman w/ constant bleeding & Jairus were in an impossible place.

The woman was sick, had seen countless doctors, spent all her money, & still was getting worse.

Jairus' daughter was sick, nigh unto death.

Back then, if you got sick, usually that meant death.



The woman thought if she could just connect with Jesus, she would be healed.

     She obviously had a pretty strong belief in Jesus' ability to heal.

     Plus, what did she have to lose?

She was in an impossible place. She knew that Jesus' ability & willingness to heal her were probably her only chance, her last chance. If He didn't heal her, she'd just probably go off somewhere & die.

But she was healed.

I think He knew who it was (I mean, He IS God, ya know!). He was just waiting for her to admit it, to take one more step of courage & admit she's reached out in faith.



Jairus was in an incredibly impossible place - his servants had come & told him to never mind - his daughter was dead.

I wonder what it was like when Jairus looked into the face of Jesus with this horrible news, & Jesus looked into Jairus' eyes and said, "Don't be afraid. Just trust Me."?

Think about that for a minute....

And then Jesus went to Jairus' house & brought the daughter back to life.



All of us either are, have been, or will be in an impossible place.


We may need healing - whatever kind you can think of - and like the woman, all we have to do is connect with Jesus & the healing will happen.

And like Jairus, we may have something(s) in our life that are dead. We think it's over. There's nothing that can be done. Never mind.

And Jesus looks us in the face & says, "Don't be afraid. Just trust Me."

And then brings it back to life.



I've got some impossible places in my life right now. Maybe you do too.

In the past 3 1/2 years, every time I've read this account in one of the Gospels, God speaks those 6 words to me - Don't be afraid. Just trust Me.

And I've got some big impossibles right now.

I keep putting 1 foot in front of another. I keep on keeping on. I continue to walk by faith & not by sight.

I don't know when the healing will come.

 I don't know when the dead thing will come back to life.



I just know that Jesus continues to whisper to me, "Don't be afraid. Just trust Me."