"Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, 'Don't be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed'" (Luke 8:40, NIV).
I jumped over a low-hanging chain at a park when jogging. Unfortunately, the tip of my foot caught it, and I fell flat on my face into the dirt. A young mother with her small child witnessed my embarrassing mishap. She anxiously asked, "Are you okay? Can I help you?" I slowly looked up to her from the ground and proclaimed, "This was not part of the plan."
Death was not part of the plan! God bestowed eternal life onto Adam and Eve at their creation. Nevertheless, they rebelled against God and fell into the dirt of sin. Sin came through their fall, and "death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). However, death is only a temporary interruption of the plan.
The gospel of Luke addresses the story of a gravely ill twelve-year-old girl (Luke 8:49-55). Her father, Jairus, begged Jesus to come to his home to heal her. The situation was desperate—she was dying!
Jesus heads to the girl with the father but encounters an interruption, that of another precious soul needing healing. The delay must have added to the father's anxiety. By the time he arrived home with Jesus, the daughter had perished.
How helpless Jairus must have felt. We are all helpless against death's grasp. We can try to fight, ignore, or mourn ii, but we have no power to stop it. What brings solace is understanding the plan. Jesus reveals it in just a few words, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." Trust Him, and everything will work out.
The words of Christ are a marked contrast to the loud and hapless wailing coming from the deceased girl's room. Juxtaposed are Jesus' words, filled with hope. Sickness and death will not alter God's plan.
Jesus told them, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping." However, they ridiculed His words and dismissed the hope He gave. Why? Because they failed to grasp that death is only an interruption.
Notice that Jesus equates it to sleep here and elsewhere. God may let his children of faith sleep the sleep of death, but He promises to wake them from their slumber at the Second Advent of Christ.
After ushering all but the parents out of the room, except for Peter, James, and John, the Lord gently takes the hand of the deceased daughter and says to her, "Little girl, arise." Her breath returned immediately, and she arose upon His command. Gone is the heart-wrenching anguish and loss. Utter joy replaces the grief as the girl is restored alive to her parents.
We may be powerless against death, but God is not. As Christ rose from the tomb, so will His children rise at the end of the age. He guarantees the time will soon come when death and all that comes with it will no longer be (Revelation 21:4).
Therefore, don't be discouraged when things seem to go off script. Instead, trust the Lord that everything will work out. For God will fulfill His plan. "Don't be afraid, only believe."
