Sunday, September 15, 2019

In Mark 5, we see the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, come to Jesus and desperately ask Him to heal his daughter who’s extremely sick. Jairus give us a picture of how we are suppose to lead our homes—by coming to Jesus and allowing him to bring peace in our homes.

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The Condition of the Family 

The number of fatherless children, the foster care system, looking into the eyes of a single parent, the divorce rate… It’s obvious that something is broken, something isn’t working right and it needs to be fixed. 

The family is under an obvious satanic attack. Satan hates the family! He comes to steal, kill, and destroy… 

How did the family get broken? What is family supposed to look like? Start with these words: 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. –Genesis 1:1

God is love. Everything He made, He made out of love. With His words, He made man:

“Then the Lord formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 

and the man became a living creature.”  –Genesis 2:7

There is something about man that is from the earth – dirt, and that is from heaven – the breath of God.

Dirt and Divinity, both inside the human body. Everything God made, God looked at it and it was good… until:

“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” –Genesis 2:18

YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR RELATIONSHIPS.   

From the moment you are born, you’re in relationship with parents. Later you have relationships in school, church, the workplace, and eventually for many – marriage. 

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed.  

If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.”  – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Nobody succeeds spiritually alone!

Isolate people from people and you leave them with a hole in their soul. Being alone is a dangerous place to be. Too many people live in crowded loneliness; this is the culture of social media.

God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and performed the first surgery. He took out a rib, put the flesh back together, made a woman, and brought her to the man. She was called WOMAN. 

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” 

– Genesis 1:27

“And God saw all that he had made and it was to very good.” –Genesis 1:31

When God made family, He made a male a female… but what about sexual fluidity? What about people’s choice? What about transgender? Some school systems are recommending changes to their family life curriculum, including lessons on sexual fluidity – the idea that there is no such thing as 100% boy or 100% girl. 

Article by NBC – Boy or Girl? Parents Raising ‘Theybies’: Let the kids decide. Keep their biological sex a secret in order to shield the children from gender stereotypes. 

BUT, there are roles in this male and female relationship – husband and wife:

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church.” –Ephesians 5:22-23

“Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” –Ephesians 5:25

Eph. 5 – Husband is to be a leader, wife is to be a helper, and together they make a great team. Together, in the context of a healthy marriage, they express the image of God. 

Adam and Eve – Everything was perfect: peace, love, joy. They were made in the image and likeness of God; they loved like God. There was no selfishness or taking offense, there was perfect understanding, perfect support, perfect encouragement. Nobody was in the doghouse.

 

Then came the serpent – questioning God’s design – Genesis 3 

That’s what the enemy is doing to this day. With sin, came DEATH.

“Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, 

because all have sinned.” –Romans 5:12

Sin kills the family… sin destroys the joy that should be there. 

Satan is out to destroy your family, what are you to do? 

Men… you are called to take leadership in your homes. What does that look like? 

The Apostle Mark told about a man with a family that was dying. It was obvious that something in his home was broken; something was not working right and it needed to be fixed. And he was desperate: 

“Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 

and implored him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. 

Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.’” –Mark 5:22-23

What does it look like to fight for your family?  

WITH A DESPERATE HEART, COME TO JESUS.

There he was: a broken-hearted dad, a man who couldn’t fix it … his family was dying and nothing else mattered! So he broke through the crowd, interrupted what Jesus was in the middle of – and caring nothing about protocol or position… he threw himself at the feet of Jesus and there he prayed.

Jesus is the only hope to restore the family back to God’s original design. 

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, to adopt you, to empower you. 

Desperation will turn you into a different person. 

A person drowning has only one thought: I must have air. Nothing else matters.

Life’s priorities become pretty simple… extremely clear.  

We need the Lord to bring us to a place of desperation in order for us to pray rightly. 

This is not about a physical tragedy, but a heart condition.

“For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” –Isaiah 44:3

Jairus was a leader of the synagogue: His identity was wrapped up in what he did, his role in society, his contribution. In God’s design, He created the man to be the head of the household. 

You are called to lead, and you lead best on your knees! You lead best from a humble posture before God. 

You lead by living out: John 15:15 (abide); Psalm 27:8; Psalm 16:8; Psalm 5:3.

Prayer is not about maintaining your relationship with God; it’s about obtaining something from another realm,  something from the Kingdom that must come down to the earth. 

Desperate prayer interrupts your normal. It was not normal for a ruler to fall to the ground and beg. 

What is your normal? Interrupt it.  Will you cry a cry that is worth crying about? 

Show me what your prayers are about, and I’ll show you your future.

In Mark 5:24, Jesus went with Jairus. But then a woman in the crowd pushed to the front of the line… and Jesus stopped in His tracks and left Jairus waiting. 

Jesus said, “Who touched me?” 

Imagine Jairus saying, “Who cares? My daughter is dying.” This woman began telling her story.. she went on and on. This was taking too long. Jairus could not bear the waiting. 

“But the woman, knowing had happened to her, came in fear and trembling 

and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.” –Mark 5:33

While Jesus was still talking to her, a group came from the house and said to Jairus:

 

“Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?” –Mark 5:35

NO! HOW COULD THIS BE? Fear gripped his heart, the life got sucked right out of him. Then Jesus overheard this and looked at him in the eyes with a fixed gaze that commanded his attention and arrested all his fear, and said, 

“Do not fear, only believe” (v 36). 

Whatever is in your heart that has been damaged by others – do not fear, only believe.

Whatever in your family that has been broken, taken from you – do not fear, only believe.

When the worst has happened, when what looks lifeless is not yet dead, when it is beyond all repair – 

do not fear, only believe. HOLD ONTO HOPE!

PRACTICE WAITING AND LISTENING TO THE LORD.

It’s often in the waiting time that you hear what is needed most. 

When you hear the words ‘stage 4 cancer’ – there is one voice you need to hear.

When you hear divorce papers are on the way – there is one voice you need. 

When all of life has been turned upside down – there is one voice you need. 

“But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings like eagles.  

They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” –Isaiah 40:31

Wait: to expect, to linger for a while. There is a lingering in God’s presence that fills you with expectation.

It also means to twist around; it comes with a picture of God’s strength being wrapped around your weakness.  

It’s a divine exchange.  

In the book of Exodus, we see a window into Joshua… it was the secret to his greatness:

“Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. 

Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, 

would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.” –Exodus 33:11

It was in those moments of remaining behind, of lingering a little longer in the presence of God, that Joshua was being prepared for greatness. 

God has a divine adventure planned for you that will require you to get familiar with words like: wait, linger, abide.

…So Jairus and Jesus went to the house. There was crying, wailing, because the little girl had died. There was grief and pain. The worst had happened. But Jesus said, “Fear not, only believe.” The sick had been healed, demons cast out… but this was death. Jesus walked in… but was it too late? Wait… He said, “Fear not, only believe.” 

BRING JESUS TO YOUR HOUSE!

Jesus—the same Jesus who at creation said let there be light, who took some dirt and breathed into it and made man—was in Jairus’ home and He was speaking! Why? Because a father prayed! He told the little girl to get up!

When you bring Jesus into your home, you are asking him to take charge. The leader of the synagogue, the leader of his family, let Jesus take the lead in his home. Jesus kicked out all the people who went from crying to laughing.

Do you remember the day Jesus blew a gasket? The day He walked into the temple and started flipping tables, throwing people out – saying His temple would be called a house of prayer?  

To bring Jesus into your home is to invite Him to flip some tables, to kick some things out of your house that shouldn’t even be there… pornography… movies… attitudes… influences. 

Jesus simply went into the room, and in His eyes there was not fear, there was love. He gently took her hand:

“And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was 12 years of age), 

and they were immediately overcome with amazement.” –Mark 5:42

Their journey started with being overcome with fear… but after a dad humbled himself and got on the ground for his family, “immediately” they were overcome with amazement.  

Let Jesus into your home and He will amaze you!

The point that Mark was making in his gospel was that Jesus is the Son of God and He has authority over nature, demons, sickness, and death – and they were all amazed! 

I don’t know what you face today, what looks like it has had the life sucked out of it. If you feel like there is nothing you can do, I dare you, with a desperate heart, to wait and listen. Bring Jesus into your home and let Him lead.

Show me the prayers you pray for yourself, your family, your church, your place of work and I’ll show you your future. Your prayers today are painting your tomorrow!

“Because you have prayed… the Lord has spoken…” –Isaiah 37:21-22

I dare you to give the devil a nightmare, do something that will make hell nervous and be a person of prayer.

The miracle your family needs is linked to your prayers!