The stories may have different characters, different circumstances, and you may even feel that your story is sadder than others. But, there is one thing that every story has in common, and that is a feeling of despair that can lead to all kinds of troubling symptoms that do nothing but destroy you spirit, soul, and body.

This is a common theme that has plagued mankind since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." There are a couple of points I would like to bring out with this verse.

First, that there is the confirmation of what I said above, that there is nothing that you can go through that has not already been experienced by someone else. Of course, the fine details may be different, but the despair and heartache that the experience promotes is the same. Now, it is common for a person to feel that their experience is harder than someone else's, and that may be the case. But, it is also because you're the one experiencing your problem. Your problem is real, it's tangible to you. Your problem causes you pain and suffering. Of course, the other persons problem doesn't seem as severe to you, because you can walk away from their problem- they can't. Just like you can't walk away from yours.

You might say, "well, my problem is a physical problem." You might have a loved one with a terminal illness, while that other persons problem is financial, he may be about to lose everything. Sure losing a loved one is much more difficult than a financial lose of any kind. There is no doubt about that! But, despair and heartache does not discriminate, the pain that it causes is real! It hurts no matter what your experience.

I don't know what it might be that you are experiencing at the present time, but if you are reading this, my guess is that something is going on in your life or in someone's close to you that you are seeking an answer to. I don't know where you've been or how long you've been suffering from whatever it is that brought you here. I just want to say that if seeking Jesus is what brought you here, then my friend, half the battle has been won!

I say half the battle because Jesus is willing if you are willing to trust Him. There are so many examples in the Bible of the faith that we should have in God that the Bible proclaims. If you want to gauge a problem or trial, as it is often referred to in the Bible, in terms of severity. There is no greater suffering than a parent who has a child with a terminal illness.

In Luke chapter eight (verses 40-56), we read of a story of a man named Jairus, whose daughter was very ill and was dying. Now, the story does not give all the details, but before this man went to Jesus, you would assume that he had doctors try and care for his daughter. As a parent, if your child gets sick the first thought that comes to mind is to call the doctor, especially if it is something as severe as this girl must have had, because we are told she was dying.

Because of the way this account describes the way this man came to Jesus and fell at His feet to plead with Him, you get the idea that this man was desperate. You just assume that a doctor had been involved and could not help the girl. It's safe to assume that because it is difficult to believe a parent would allow their child to be sick and not get help for them. Coming to Jesus in the desperate way he did, you would believe that the child was sick for some time and that all medical options were exhausted.

The man pleaded with Jesus to come to his house to see his daughter. Again, Scripture doesn't tell us here, but you must always remember that these accounts are real, but we do not get all the details, it is up to us to try and put a realistic feel to it, by putting ourselves into the situation and use our own personal experiences in life to fill in the details that surround the situation. Remember the verse we read above in 1 Corinthians 10:13, about no situation being uncommon to man.

Now, to try and get a clearer picture of what might have led this man to Jesus, we need to put ourselves into the situation. Try to relate this to our day with a worldly mentality. If Jesus were here today performing miracles, and our child was sick, what would we do? Well, first, we would certainly take our child to the doctor, but yet, keep a close eye on news reports of this Jesus person who claims to heal the sick. There are many who say they have been healed by this Jesus. We get our doctors report back about our child and it says that there's not much they can do.

As a parent myself, I find it hard to even try to relate to this man, because God forbid this situation were real in my life and I wasn't a believer as I am! But, I can just imagine the desperation this man must have felt. The doctors are telling me there's no hope, and on the other hand, there's this Jesus character going around healing people and many people are confirming what He claims He's done!

Now, we must put one other point into perspective here. The Scripture says that this man, Jairus, was a ruler of the synagogue. That would mean he either is a Pharisee or works for the Pharisee's who were the religious leaders trying to kill this Jesus. Who knows maybe he's even had the Pharisee's pray for his daughter and nothing happened. That is just speculation on my part, but we do know that this man was desperate to save his daughter who was running out of time.

Regardless of his relationship with the synagogue and Pharisee's, he has decided to go to this Jesus and see if he can and will help. So, we pickup the story as Jesus agrees to come to the man's home to see his daughter. Now, Jairus' daughter was in such a grave state that he did not bring her to Jesus, which I'm sure he would have liked to have done. The Scriptures tell us that as Jairus and Jesus left to go to Jairus' house a "multitude thronged them." The story of this man Jesus was so wide-spread at this point that he had people constantly seeking His help and just trying to get to Him. Many may have been just curiosity seekers wanting to get a look, but many were trying to touch Jesus as well.

This must have added to Jairus' frustration because these people were holding Jesus back from getting to his daughter who was running our of time. Then to top it all off, this Jesus fellow suddenly stops and asks, "who touched me?" Again, I can only imagine the frustration that Jairus must have been feeling. Here he is trying to get Jesus to his house before his daughter dies, and Jesus wants to know who touched Him. I mean come on, there are so many people around you and pressing up against you, of course someone's bound to touch you!

Again, there is an importance to this one particular touch. Sure many people were probably reaching in to touch Jesus as they walked, but this touch was different. In verse 46, Jesus says something astounding, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me." Why was it that this touch was different from all the others who most assuredly touched Him? Well, Jesus said, this time power went from Him. Why did power go from Him? We find the answer to that in verse 48 after this woman who touched Him explained her problem, Jesus said, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace." (Emphasis mine).

If her faith drew power from Jesus that made Him notice and then made her well, than her faith must have been different than the others who were touching Jesus. We will touch more on this faith as we move foreword here. While this is going on, Jairus was getting more frustrated by the minute and probably wanted to burst out and say, "Jesus, Please!! My daughter is dying and you're worried about who touched you?"

As this was going on a person from Jairus' house comes and tells Jairus to forget about it, leave the teacher alone, it's too late. Your daughter is dead! Now, again, if we put things into perspective and try and relate, I know I would have become angry with this crowd that kept Jesus from getting to his daughter on time. But, before the anger could set in to Jairus, Jesus, who heard what the person from Jairus' house said, made a remarkable statement to Jairus, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."

Jairus must have thought to himself, "I guess Jesus didn't hear clearly, she's no longer sick, she's dead." But, Jesus preceded to go with Jairus to his house. When Jesus got to the house he only would take in disciples Peter, James, and John, and Jairus and his wife. Now verse 52 says that all wept for her, but Jesus says, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping." Verse 53 says that they "ridiculed" Jesus after saying that. Now, one meaning of the word "ridicule" means to mock in a contemptuous way or a strong dislike or unbelief in what Jesus was saying. The New International Version says they "laughed" at Jesus in a mocking way. 

The account concludes with Jesus putting all out of the room where the girls body was and when he was alone with her he said, "Little girl, arise." Her spirit then returned and she arose immediately. You might be asking yourself, "well, what does this all have to do with me?" That's a good question, but it has everything to do with you and your situation no matter what your going through!

Remember earlier when I said we will touch on faith, well this is where faith comes into play. As I said, there must have been many people touching Jesus because of the crowd that was pushing up against Him to touch Him. Yet, it was the woman's touch that drew power from Jesus, no one else's. The faith that I am referring to is not a human faith, which is based solely on the physical realm around us. Human faith is really not faith at all. Human faith or trust comes along with many doubts attached to it, because humans in and of themselves are not faithful. People let other people down all the time, no matter how close of a relationship you may have with one another. 

The physical world is no more faithful or trusting than a human is. We can't even trust the ground we walk on. One minute everything may be peaceful and calm, then the next minute an earthquake can cause death and destruction. Hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, avalanches, the list goes on and on in reference to the faithlessness of the physical world.  

Yet, it's faith that can be your life raft in this physical world, in whatever situation you are in. Whether it be a spiritual battle, financial battle, a battle with sickness or disease. Whatever your situation and no matter how bleak of a picture there is before you. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can and will pull you through. But, this faith is a faith that can only come from God. Roman's 12:3 says, "...in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." This measure of faith God gives is based upon your relationship that you establish with Him.

How is your relationship with God? You can gauge the answer to that question by how well you fulfill Galatians 2:20- the apostle Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Have you accepted Christ as your Savior? And, if you have, can you honestly say that you have given up your will for your life and replaced it with the will of the father? One of the most confusing aspects of a Christian's life, is the question, "what is God's will for my life?" God's will for your life is not the topic of this writing, but it is an integral part of getting a Godly faith to work in your life. For more information on God's will for your life, you can read my study on "The Will of God."

There are laws that God has put into place that govern our relationship with Jesus and the Father, as well as with this physical world and the priorities that we place on each aspect of our lives. This point right here in reference to these laws and their relationship to our being, is the main reason for the dysfunction within the body of Christ and the world in general. Christian's do not understand these laws, let alone know these laws. Societies around the world are designed contrary to these laws. Why? Satan!  

Satan has been at odds with man, beginning in the Garden of Eden. As far as mankind was concerned, Satan had that battle won. Man left to themselves was no match for an invisible foe like Satan. It's like putting a champion boxer in a boxing ring and telling him to fight an opponent who is invisible. Not only can you not defend yourself against an invisible opponent, you cannot go on the offensive either, because how do you hit something or someone you can't sense or see?

But, through Jesus Christ, God has given us a way of escape, which is the second point I wanted to bring out of our verse above in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Yes, we will always have trials and tribulations in this physical life. It is just the nature of a fallen world that occurred in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned. But, we do not have to deal with those problems alone, and as a matter of fact, God will bless your faithfulness toward Him and His Son, Jesus Christ. The problems of this fallen world have been overcome by Jesus at the Cross, it is our responsibility to manifest those blessings into our physical lives. 

Many believe that accepting Jesus as our Savior, and turning our lives over to Him, only preserves an eternal life in heaven for us after our time on earth is through. But, for the remainder of this life, we just have to grin and bare it. That couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, it is wonderful news that we will have a place with Jesus in eternity and this is what this life is all about- preparing us for eternal life, but there is a here-and-now aspect of the blessing of Accepting Jesus, as well. 

This theme is interwoven throughout the entire Bible, with prophecies of this in the Old Testament and confirmation by Jesus himself in the New Testament. For the Old Testament is God's plan concealed- the New Testament is God's plan revealed. 2 Corinthians 1:20, the apostle Paul tells us, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." (NIV used for clarity). Basically this says that God doesn't lie! When He promises something you'd better believe it because it is true. We can read one promise that I constantly refer to for encouragement, that is found in Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV used for clarity).

Yes, that is a promise to the Israelites, but it has also been extended to us today by Christ. We can confirm this in John 14:12-14, Jesus says, "12) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

This verse tells us a lot. Although He was speaking to the disciples here, it's grammatically clear that He referred to "anyone", not just the disciples, when He said, "he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also." He even goes one step further when He says, "and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." The last part of that verse proves that it was meant for future believers, as well as the believers Jesus was speaking to there. Because He spoke of going to the Father. At this point and time He said this, it was fairly early in His ministry- so why would He mention when He goes to the Father, if it were only meant for that point in time? There are many Christian's who will tell you that this just refers to the spiritual life and not the Physical, here-and-now, life. But the next verse I quote assures us of it being more than just the spiritual life.

When we look at Colossians 2:9-10, we see the promise of God in terms of power and authority that you have in Christ, it reads, "9) For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10) and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Notice it does not say, "...fullness of the Godhead spiritually", no, it says "bodily," referring to the physical body. Because of Christ's victory over Satan at the Cross, when we accept Him as Savior, we receive that victory by default, as a gift of God's grace and mercy. Thus, we receive the same power and authority over Satan that Jesus had.

With each time we sin we give up that power and give it over to Satan, why? Because, when we sin, we are giving into the lies that Satan is feeding us. The lies that Satan tells us in our thought processes are contrary to God. Anytime we act on a thought that is contrary to God and His law, we are sinning. Many times we sin and don't even notice it or realize it. It could be something that we consider minor, but if it is contrary to God, it is sin! 

How do we defend ourselves against such thoughts that are contrary to God? Joshua 1:8, tells us, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." KNOWLEDGE! That's what it is all about.

The more you get to know God and His Son Jesus Christ, the more you will see the promise of Jeremiah 29:11, that we mentioned above, come into your life. 

I know this may all sound far-fetched to you, because most likely your Church is telling you of a doctrine of grin-and-bare-it, until the next life comes. But, I say, why in the world would God put His only begotten Son through all that He went through, just to have follows who are weak and powerless and who succumb to every whim of Satan. We read in 2 Corinthians 1:20, that the glory of God is through us! The way most Christians live their lives in no way resembles the glory of God.   

If one were to resemble the glory of God, I would envision a powerful, strong, confident person, knowing full-well what his destiny is. For most of my life, that certainly was not me. But, God is merciful, when I did knock and seek Him for the answers to life's questions, He was there to open the door. And He will open the door for you as well. 

Just don't walk away from this opportunity to knock, because if you knock, He will answer; and if you seek Him, you WILL find Him! And before long, you will have a testimony that you will want to shout from the mountaintops, just like myself and many others who found the truth of God! For it is that truth that shall set you free indeed!! 

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