When Things Go From Bad To Worse

When things go from bad to worse, it is God’s will that they be turned around to His glory, and for our blessing.  Indeed the word of God has the answer to everything that we could possibly face.  Once we learn how to make contact with God, we can always get what He desires for us and put the devil where he belongs.  But how exactly do we receive from God?  People often say that God can do anything He wants to do, whenever He wants to do it – and there is some truth in that.  However, we do not necessarily receive from God on the basis of what He can do.

God’s Ability Or Your Faith

In Mark 9: 14-29, a desperate father brought his demon possessed boy to Jesus for help.  The father begged Jesus, “…But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.  Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ ” (verses 22-23 NKJV).  Notice how Jesus immediately put the responsibility back on the father; the question deciding the issue was not Jesus’ power, but the man’s faith.

Today people are still approaching God in the same way, “God, if You can, You do something for me.”  It’s not so much what God can do, but what YOU can believe.  Of the many miracles and healings that Jesus did during His earthly ministry, the Bible only records 19 individual cases of healing.  In at least 12 of those cases, the individuals’ faith is referred to as a key factor in their receiving their healing.  In some of the other cases it is implied.  What can YOU comfortably believe God for?  That’s the deciding factor in YOUR receiving from God.

With this in mind, let’s look at the story of Jairus and his sick daughter in Mark 5:21-43, where we can learn what to do when a bad situation gets even worse.  “And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name.  And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet and begged Him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.’  So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him. (or pressed in on Him)”, verses 22-24 (NKJV).

Jairus worshipped Jesus and got His attention.  Whenever you see someone in the Bible do something that enabled them to receive from God, if you do the same thing, you will get the same results, for God is no respecter of persons.  Your heartfelt worship will always get God’s attention.

Jairus didn’t ask Jesus to come and try and see what He could do.  He knew what Jesus could do, he had heard about His healing ministry.  So he said to Jesus, “Come and lay Your hands on her …and she shall live.” He didn’t say, “Come try it”, or “If it be Thy will.”  He knew for a certainty that she would live, and Jesus went with him.

Reading through the four gospel accounts, you will often find that the faith of an individual would cause Jesus to change from the direction in which He was headed, and follow them.  Jesus didn’t go with Jairus because He liked the way he looked or because he had a lot of money.  No, it was because of his faith.  Jesus was going somewhere else when Jairus came up to Him and asked Him to go with him.

Obstacles In The Way Of Faith

Mark 5:25-28 (NKJV), “Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians.  She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse.  When she HEARD about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched his garment.  For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.’”

What had she heard?  This Man had been anointed with the Holy Spirit and His power and was going about doing good, healing people.  Miracles were happening all around Jesus and He had brought untold joy to multitudes.  So when this woman heard about Jesus, she didn’t just dismiss Him and put Him in the same class with all those physicians who had taken her money.  It would have been easy to do that, considering the bad experience she had had with the others.  But if she had done that, we wouldn’t be reading about her now.

In Bible times, such a woman was classified as unclean, according to the book of Leviticus – not just hygienically, but also in a religious sense.  No matter how rich you were, the moment you were declared unclean, you would no longer be allowed to interact with normal people.  This was probably a woman of great means who had lost all her wealth in treating her condition.

So she had heard about Jesus, and was pushing her way through the crowd to reach Him.  This woman had every reason in the world not to attempt to get close to Him.  She was weak from hemorrhaging for twelve years; that crowd could crush her.  She would have had to get rid of the garment she was required to wear as an unclean person, and disguise herself, hoping nobody would recognize her as she tried to touch Jesus.

Even if she did make it to Jesus, Jairus was standing with Him – the very person who had the authority under the religious order to have her stoned.  In other words, this big obstacle was standing right next to her answer!  She could have prayed for God to send him away, but Jairus wasn’t about to leave till he got what he came for!

Some Christians are praying today for God to take away the obstacles in their lives, all such prayers are prayers of unbelief.  This woman had serious obstacles that she had to overcome to get to Jesus.  She was literally taking her life in her hands.  To the ordinary eye she was taking a big risk, but for the person in faith it is no risk at all, only a wonderful leap of faith into victory!  Notice she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I SHALL be made well.” JESUS NEEDS YOUR FAITH TO HELP YOU. You may have stumbling blocks, but they are supposed to be turned into stepping stones to your victory in Christ!

Mark 5:29-31 (NKJV), “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My clothes?’  But his disciples said to Him, ‘You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched me?’”

HEALING IS NOT A FEELING, BUT IT WILL PRODUCE A FEELING.  She made contact with Jesus and the anointing from Him flowed into her body effecting a healing and a cure; immediately Jesus knew power had left Him.  As far as the disciples were concerned, Jesus shouldn’t have been asking who touched Him, but rather who hadn’t touched Him!

But Jesus wasn’t talking about just any kind of touch.  Not the touch of the curious who wanted to feel His skin or His clothes.  The only touch the Master was aware of was the touch of faith.  That should reveal to us that the Master is aware of every touch of faith.  Smith Wigglesworth used to say that God will pass over a thousand people to get to one person with faith.  It’s that touch of faith that zapped the power out of Jesus without Him even knowing about her need.  This woman wasn’t wondering if it was God’s will to heal her, or if she should be breaking the religious law.  God is in a hurry to bless us, and He’s not legalistic about it either.

Delay Does Not Mean Denial

“And He looked around to see her who had done this thing.  But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, ‘Daughter your faith has made you well.  Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.’ “ Verses 32-34 (NKJV).

All this delay was probably making Jairus anxious about his daughter.  But here was Jesus, giving this woman all the time she needed.  Why?  Because her story was a testimony of faith; He wanted the people to hear it, and to learn how to tap into the power of God!  There was nothing Satan could do to Jairus’ daughter (or that he can do to you), that God could not undo or reverse.  GOD IS NEVER LATE!

Notice too, that though it was the power in Jesus that effected the healing, Jesus did not put the emphasis on His power, but on the woman’s faith – “Daughter your faith has made you well.” He was there with all the power, but the whole crowd wasn’t getting healed.  One woman’s faith however, initiated the release of that healing power for her benefit.

Do Not Be Afraid, Only Believe

“While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, ’Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?’  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘DO NOT BE AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE.’ ” Mark 5:35-36 (NKJV).  Jairus’ bad situation had just gotten worse, his daughter was dead.  The words that Jesus spoke to him are still the key to victory today; “Do not be afraid, only believe!”

Notice that Jesus didn’t stop to have a prayer meeting, make a few strong scripture confessions, or call a three day fast.  Prayer is necessary, making confessions and fasting are good, but regardless of how much you pray, confess and fast, you are still going to have to obey this – do not be afraid, only believe.  You can do every religious thing you know to do, but if you do not do this, you are NOT going to receive what God intends for you to get.

Jesus needed Jairus’ faith to help Him.  If it were only dependent upon Jesus, He would have told Jairus not to bother about it, and that He would take care of the situation Himself.  Remember Jairus had said in verse 23, “Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” – the only reason why Jesus had set out for Jairus’ house in the first place, was because of this faith that he had expressed in Jesus.

Verse 37 reveals a key point where many people lose their victory; “And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John…” (NKJV).  No one was allowed to follow them – Jesus got rid of all the curiosity seekers, unbelieving friends, comforters, religious bigots and whoever else.  You need people of like precious faith when things get hard for you.

When persecution arose against the early church and the apostles were released from detention in Acts 4, they went to their own company.  It is during difficult times that you need to come to church the most, not stay home and pray by yourself.  You NEED your own company.  Christians who don’t belong to a church are open game to the devil.  They are unbalanced, and are susceptible to false doctrines.  When you are facing the heat of the trial, cut off all the things of the flesh; turn off those goofy TV programs!

Jesus only took Peter, James and John along with Him and Jairus, because they believed like Jesus.  Don’t go distributing your prayer requests to people who don’t know how to pray.  You need believers who can hold up with you, firm and strong.  Not the kind who when asked to pray for a deathly sick person, will pray, “Oh God, remember the sick and heal them if it be Your will.  But if not, then we know You need another voice in the heavenly choir, so they’re better off up there with You.”

“Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.  When He came in, He said to them, ‘Why make this commotion and weep?  The child is not dead, but sleeping.’  And they ridiculed Him.  But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those that were with Him, and entered where the child was lying.  Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, ‘Talitha, cumi,’ which is translated, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’  Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.  And they were overcome with great amazement.”, Mark 5:38-42 (NKJV).

Jesus put out all the unbelieving relatives and mourners, and that’s what you need to do too.  Put away from you all those who are not in faith, anyone and anything that’s full of fear and unbelief.  It may not be the nice thing to do, but you must because of what is at stake – life.  Do you want to act nice to someone at the expense of your child’s life?  Jesus wasn’t worried about being nice, and neither should you!

Jesus Needs Your Faith

What had Jairus asked?  He wanted Jesus to come and lay His hands on his daughter.  What did Jesus do?  He came and took the child by the hand and ministered to her.  JESUS NEEDS YOUR FAITH TO HELP YOU.  The devil would love to separate you from your faith.  He’ll tell you that your faith is not strong enough.  However, the very reason why he told you that is because your faith IS strong enough!  You wouldn’t expect the devil to come and tell you that you can believe God, and that all things are possible to you when you believe?  No, he won’t tell you that, for he lies all the time.

The greatest miracle that could ever take place is for a person to be born again.  If you are saved, then the greatest thing that could happen to anybody has already happened to you.  Every other thing in life is less than that.  So whenever you face difficulties, and the devil starts lying to you that your faith is not strong enough, you just need to tell him, “I am saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.  The Holy Ghost in me will put me over, you hide and watch devil, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it!”  Alleluia!  And so it will happen.

Jesus said, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” If you are afraid, you cannot believe – one excludes the other.  In John 14:1 Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” If your heart is troubled, you cannot believe in God.  If you are believing God, then your heart is not going to be troubled.  There are times when anxiety and fear will come against you.  Your knees may be knocking, but speak these words out of your mouth in faith, “In the name of Jesus, I will not be afraid, I believe God and He is putting me over.”

Words like that come from your heart, your spirit.  Your body is simply where your spirit lives, so it doesn’t matter if your knees are knocking.  You may feel the hot breath of the devil right on the back of your neck, but if you speak out words of faith you will always get the victory!  All the enemy’s lies and pressure are simply designed to get you to stop believing God.

Conclusion 

Sometimes Christians mistakenly set a time limit when they are believing God for something.  You may be believing God for a certain thing, and think that if it doesn’t happen by say 3 o’clock on April 30, then you have a right to stop believing God for it.  Why should a man-made device like a clock, be what tells you when to stop believing God?  We are believers by nature, God made us that way.  There is never a right time to stop believing God; THERE IS NEVER A RIGHT TIME TO DOUBT.  You won’t know how strong your faith is until you use it, or step out on it.

You know where you are, what you are believing God for, and God knows where you are.  No matter how bad things may seem to be getting, let faith arise in your heart today as you have heard the words of Jesus Himself, “DO NOT BE AFRAID, ONLY BELIEVE!