Page 21 - Living Light 89

Friday June 20 - Trust in Jesus’ perfect timing ...she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Mark 5:28
Jairus must have felt a flood of relief when Jesus left to heal his daughter. But then they were hindered by the crowd, and one desperate woman who reached out for healing. She’d been bleeding for as long as Jairus’ daughter had lived, and those 12 years had rendered her religiously ‘unclean’ in her community. No wonder she reached out secretly. She was instantly healed! Just one touch of the Lord Jesus changes everything!
When Jesus lingered, asking the woman to make herself known, Jairus must have been thinking of his dying daughter, desperately wondering why Jesus didn’t hurry up... but the public declaration of this woman’s healing instantly removed her ‘unclean’ status in the community! Jesus lovingly called her “daughter”, endorsing her beloved status before God and, by implication, commending her faith and trust in himself. Jesus showed equal care for the poor shunned woman, and for Jairus’ high-status daughter – both were beloved daughters of God.
This ‘interruption’ was surely agonising for Jairus, whose daughter’s life was ebbing away. How hard it is to wait, to trust, for Christ’s perfect timing. When we’re desperate for God’s help, we have only to reach out in prayer to touch the Lord Jesus... for we too are his beloved. Let’s pray now for God’s help – taking heart from knowing that, in our waiting, he draws close.
Father, ‘I cling to you; your right hand upholds me’ (Psalm 63:8). In Jesus I am held firmly; please grow my trust, for your glory. Amen.
Sat June 21 - Trust in Jesus’ resurrection promise
He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means
“Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) Mark 5:41
Imagine how Jairus felt, when Jesus stopped to heal someone else enroute to his dying daughter, and risked being too late. But there’s no ‘too late’ with Jesus; his timing is always perfect. Jesus instead planned a resurrection miracle demonstrating his power over death itself; a miracle seen by only a few that day, to be engraved on the witnesses’ minds and hearts, and later proclaimed to countless generations... including ours.
God knows the exact moment our earthly life will end and our heavenly life with him begin, and every resurrection miracle Christ wrought on earth points to his resurrection power in the lives of ordinary believers like you and me. All who love Jesus will one day be roused from death’s sleep by his beautiful voice... and join in his glorious wedding feast!
My Mum died before I reached the hospital, but as I held her hand and cried, Jesus’ words to Jairus’s daughter flooded my mind. Mum had loved Jesus, and now her glorious heavenly life with him had begun. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). There’s no ‘too late’ with Jesus – we can trust his powerful resurrection promise, and his perfect timing.
Glorious Lord Jesus, I look forward to meeting you face to face! Your plan for me is your eternal love. Thank you! Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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