Replacing Your Fear With Faith
Pr Nick Dyrud // Senior Pastor
The other day as my wife and I were putting our two youngest kids to bed, I heard a shriek come from down the hall. Now, I knew right away it was not the cry of our three-year-old daughter getting hurt, but rather a scream out of fear of something she was encountering in her room. As I went in, I could see that she was pointing to something on the floor. Soon, I knew what all the commotion was about; there was a spider a few feet away in the corner. I quickly and calmly got rid of the problem and reassured her that everything was going to be okay. The fear was real, but only to her. What terrified her did not send me into a frenzy.
I wonder sometimes if God feels the same way I did walking into the room and saving the day by getting rid of that scary spider. Of course, it’s God who sees our situations from a greater perspective. We know that He has compassion for us and our circumstances, and yet, He has no need to react the way we would or handle things the way we do.
This fall we have been preaching through a new sermon series and Home Group study called “Greater Things”. To summarize the series, we have been exploring the miracles and subsequent teachings of Jesus. Throughout the study, we have been exploring questions such as: Do we truly believe that God is greater than our circumstances, our fears and struggles? Greater than our temptations and sins? Greater than our enemies, or greater than what’s going on in the world? It’s clear to me that we are all in need of the reminder that God is greater than we can even fathom and that when we trust Him we will encounter greater things!
Recorded in Luke 8:40-56 is the healing of Jairus’s daughter. As Luke gives his account of this story, it begins with Jairus falling to the feet of Jesus and imploring Him for help. You can imagine his situation; without a miracle, he is helpless. You can imagine his fear and trepidation of what is to come if something isn’t done soon. Then, right in the middle of it all, Jesus is interrupted by another woman in need of healing. This distraction seems to take Jesus’ attention away from Jairus’s daughter’s need. It’s during this time that we find out later that Jairus’s daughter passed away. You can imagine the heartbreak of all of this timing and what might have been going through Jairus’s mind as he later receives word that his beloved daughter has passed away. We get the impression, from our story, that everyone present believes that it’s too late.
But it wasn’t too late. God is never late. Jesus used all of these details and all of the timing to further build within Jairus, those present, and even we who are reading the story today, greater trust and greater perspective that His power and His authority will not be interrupted. Yes, God will accomplish all things according to His glory and in His timing.
I’m sure you have faced a situation where you have thought or said out loud, “Nothing more can be done”. Maybe it’s a health crisis you are navigating. Maybe you are facing a difficult test right now and you are waiting upon the Lord. Remember, God is not finished.
God does not fear like we fear. He sees from a greater perspective. Just look at Jesus’ response to both the crowd and to Jairus as He reassures them that He has it all under control. “Jesus said, ‘Do not fear, just believe, and she will be healed.’” (Luke 8:50 ESV) See, fear is a spirit of the enemy (I Timothy 1:7) that seeks to hurt and destroy us. Fear keeps us from trusting God and living the abundant life He offers to each one of us. Yes, Jesus wants to replace your fear with faith, and most importantly, He has our eternity in mind. Just as he took this 12 year-old girl’s hand, raised her to life and proclaimed her daughter of the Most High. And this is the point of the whole story. God’s greater purpose, beyond the physical healing of two women, is that all mankind experience the greater miracle of Jesus’ saving grace.