What does persistent mean?
It's a firm continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty.
In Mark 5 there's a story about a man named Jairus.
Jairus was a great man.
A man of great influence.
However, at this moment in life, Jairus was a desperate man;
His daughter was about to die.
So he came to Jesus.
He knew, he believed Jesus could heal his daughter.
But now this issue was timing.
Could he get Jesus to his daughter before she died?
They were trying to get through this large crowd and then this happened...
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
But what about Jairus?
What about his daughter who was about to die?
Where is Jesus' urgency?
Then someone from the house of Jairus came and said his daughter was dead.
Jairus had to be angry!
He had to feel some confusion.
If only Jesus' timing was better. If only...
But Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, just believe."
Persistent faith doesn't determine the timing of God's response...
and
persistent faith doesn't determine the nature of God's response.
You see, Jairus comes to Jesus to cure his daughter's fever but ends up resurrecting her from the dead.
The woman wanted to be healed from her disease but ends up Jesus changing her entire life.
Persistent faith sees God's response in light of a bigger story.
Because if we just see our story, not part of the bigger story, we will always be disappointed with God.
Even though it seems like God's timing is off, seems that God isn't listening, seems like God doesn't care, seems like prayers are hitting the ceiling...
We have to understand that it's part of a bigger story.
No problem is bigger than another problem with Jesus.
Trust Him.
Have faith.
Have persistent faith.
It's a firm continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty.
In Mark 5 there's a story about a man named Jairus.
Jairus was a great man.
A man of great influence.
However, at this moment in life, Jairus was a desperate man;
His daughter was about to die.
So he came to Jesus.
He knew, he believed Jesus could heal his daughter.
But now this issue was timing.
Could he get Jesus to his daughter before she died?
They were trying to get through this large crowd and then this happened...
25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
But what about Jairus?
What about his daughter who was about to die?
Where is Jesus' urgency?
Then someone from the house of Jairus came and said his daughter was dead.
Jairus had to be angry!
He had to feel some confusion.
If only Jesus' timing was better. If only...
But Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, just believe."
Persistent faith doesn't determine the timing of God's response...
and
persistent faith doesn't determine the nature of God's response.
You see, Jairus comes to Jesus to cure his daughter's fever but ends up resurrecting her from the dead.
The woman wanted to be healed from her disease but ends up Jesus changing her entire life.
Persistent faith sees God's response in light of a bigger story.
Because if we just see our story, not part of the bigger story, we will always be disappointed with God.
Even though it seems like God's timing is off, seems that God isn't listening, seems like God doesn't care, seems like prayers are hitting the ceiling...
We have to understand that it's part of a bigger story.
No problem is bigger than another problem with Jesus.
Trust Him.
Have faith.
Have persistent faith.