Why Bother?

I’m way behind in posting some things, but this is a follow up to the sermon I posted a few weeks ago called Sun Stand Still.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him,“Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means“Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. Mark 5:35-43

Prior to these verses (starting in verse 21) Jairus asks Jesus to heal his dying daughter. Jesus agrees, but while they are on the way to the house, another woman cuts in front of Jairus to ask Jesus for healing as well. Starting in verse 35, after the healing of the other lady, the message was delivered to Jarius that his daughter was dead. At this point, Jarius feels hopeless with the distraction of the lady and the bad news of his daughter. After hearing the bad news he asks why he should even bother Jesus anymore.

Isn’t that a question we can easily all ask? Why bother asking God to make my marriage better, when my spouse doesn’t treat me well? Or why bother giving to the church, when I just lost my job? Or why bother praying for my kids, when they are so caught up in drugs it feels like there is no hope? Or in our case, Why bother praying for a miracle child when doctors have given us little hope?

Sometimes when we pray Sun Stand still prayers it seems the skies just seem to get a little darker. Our prayers go unanswered, and we feel as though God isn’t even there. When God says all things are possible, Satan whispers “why bother”? Or maybe like Jarius, we receive a promise from God, and then while God is in the process of doing His miracle, we get distracted with fear, doubt or maybe just an interruption by another circumstance.

In verse 36, after Jesus overheard the report of the daughter dying, Jesus told Jarius, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” As the story continues, Jarius kept his mouth quiet and decided to trust God. The story ends when they go back to the house with Peter, James, and John, and Jesus resurrects Jarius daughter, just as He had promised.

Isn’t this what we need to do? Just ignore the fear and voices within us. Ignore the negative comments from doctors or even discouraging words from friends and family. Instead of living in fear, live in faith and believe. There are plenty of scriptures and stories in the bible where Jesus and the disciples could have said ”why bother?”, but instead they kept on believing. For our journey, I have been so hopeful and strong, trusting Jesus would answer our Sun Stand Still prayer, but recently fear and doubt crept in and instead I asked ”why bother?”

What we need to remember is even when the sun goes down and there are interruptions to our Sun Stand still prayer, God continues to be the light. We need to remember to keep the promises from God at the center of our minds and not let fear and doubt creep in. We need to realize that Jesus doesn’t see our situation the way we see it. And, even though our circumstances aren’t always 100%, it doesn’t mean our faith can’t be. While we just want the end result, a baby, we need to remember God is doing 10,000 little things that we aren’t aware of to make our miracle happen. So, instead of asking “why bother?” we are going to say “just believe.”