Desperation, Delay, Doubt, & Divine Deliverance

[0:00] What's going on, we're going to pick up in Luke chapter 8, verse number 40. You can follow along the screen as well. Verse 40 says, I love Peter's response.

[0:49] And when all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude thronged thee and pressed thee, and sayest thou, who touched me? Peter's not afraid to rebuke the Lord.

[1:03] He's like, listen, you've lost your mind. Everybody's touching you, Lord. We're on a mission here. Let's just keep moving. Verse 46, And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me, for I perceive that virtue has gone out of me.

[1:17] And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him, and she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

[1:30] And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace. And while he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead.

[1:44] Trouble not the master. But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole.

[1:56] And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, James, and John, and the father of the mother and the maiden. And all wept and bewailed her, and he said, Weep not, she is not dead, but sleepeth.

[2:11] Verse 53, And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead. And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.

[2:22] And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway, and he commanded to give her meat. And her parents were astonished. But he charged them, they should tell no man what was done.

[2:36] We've kind of seen over these last few weeks here in the eighth chapter of Luke, that Jesus is kind of, Luke is kind of showing Jesus' identity. Who he is.

[2:48] That he's not just a carpenter, he's not some rabbi. No, that he is God in the flesh. And he has authority over the nature, we saw that. Over these demons, he has it over death and disease.

[3:00] And he reminds us that there is nothing that we are going to face in life that he can't control. That he can't fix. That there may be desperation in life, there may be delay, there may be doubt, there may be all kinds of things.

[3:15] But God is able to give divine deliverance. Now sometimes that's here on this side, and sometimes that's on that side. But we're going to see how we can apply these truths to our life this morning.

[3:27] So let's go to hymn and prayer, and then we'll jump right in. Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for the songs that have been sung. Thank you for those that have come to worship you this morning. I pray that you would be with us now.

[3:37] Lord, I pray that you would just quiet our hearts and minds to the busyness of life, and maybe the things we brought with us, and the things we're facing ahead this week. Lord, I pray you would just speak to our hearts.

[3:50] I pray you would convict us where we need to, challenge us where we need to be. Lord, I pray if there's somebody here that does not know you as their Savior, that today they would realize that that is their greatest need. Lord, I pray you'd be with me.

[4:02] You would empty me of self, cleanse me of sin, fill me with your spirit, that I might be a help to these people this morning. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. You know what tests your patience almost more than anything?

[4:17] The DMV. Do we have any DMV employees? I don't want to. I'll pray for you if you do right now. You're like, I ain't raising my hand in a group of this many people. But you go there and you take a number and you sit down and you wait and you wait and you wait and you wait some more.

[4:37] And we know this. If anybody's driven down California Street about 5.50 in the morning, there's a line sitting right outside. I mean, and you look at those people and you realize maybe if you get in that line how woefully unprepared you are for what you just entered into.

[4:53] You see that some folks look like they're tailgating for a football game. I mean, we got snacks, comfy chairs, they're having a cornhole tournament. Because they know they're going to be here all day long.

[5:07] And they're there and some of them look like they've been there since last Tuesday. But you go into it and you're determined to stay hopeful. You tell yourself all the time, my number's got to be next.

[5:17] I mean, they're going to call me and then the loudspeaker calls now serving B47 and you're Z197. Then you realize it's not going to happen anytime soon.

[5:29] And it's in that moment, in that waiting, that you realize that it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what position or money or influence, you just can't seem to get to the front of that line. You're really stuck until your number is called.

[5:44] And as we kind of walk through the Gospels, we see that every time Jesus shows up, there's a huge crowd. Jesus had just taken a trip to the other side of the Sea of Galilee and to the country of the Gadarenes and we saw that he met this maniac of Gadare and completely changed his life.

[6:00] And the people there weren't really understanding what was going on. They couldn't comprehend it so they said, we just need you to leave. We're not sure about you yet. So Jesus gets back in the boat and they come to the other side and we see the line is already gathered because they're thinking to themselves, well if he went that way, he's got to come back here.

[6:17] And they've been gathering on the shore and waiting for him to be there and the crowd is there but there is a man in the crowd that needs his number called. He's there waiting and thinking, when is Jesus coming back?

[6:30] I really need him to show up and we're introduced to him in verse number 41. That out of the mass of this people steps a man who's wealthy, who's powerful, who's most likely well respected in his community.

[6:47] But at this moment when we meet him in verse number 41, none of that matters. Doesn't matter what his position was. Doesn't matter what his bank account said. Why?

[6:57] Because his world has just collapsed. And the Bible tells us his name that his name was Jairus. So who was Jairus? Well we can see very quickly as we read this morning that he was a desperate father.

[7:12] But his job, verse 41, tells us that he was a ruler of the synagogue. So that's why we know that he's respected. These men in these communities would have been well off, they would have been well known, and they would have been very influential.

[7:27] Basically what his job was is he was kind of the one that managed the church, so to speak. But he ran it and he scheduled the teachers and he cared for the scrolls and he oversaw the services and really just kind of kept the synagogue up and running.

[7:41] And the synagogue wasn't just a church to them, that was the center of their life. That was the community would gather around that and they would come together and they would pray one for another and just everything about the synagogue was so vital to their everyday life.

[7:56] So they would be appreciative of a man like Jairus. So simply put, here's what we see about Jairus. People looked up to him. But yet when we're introduced to him here in our text, we see Jairus on his knees at the feet of Jesus.

[8:12] Jesus. Why? Because his only child, a girl about 12 years of age, lay dying. And we know if you're a parent, there's nothing you would not do for your child in this situation.

[8:27] We could assume, we don't know, but maybe she had been sick for a while and he had called the best doctors. He had called from Jerusalem. He may have had connections and he tried everything that he could and yet she didn't get any better.

[8:41] And sometimes we kind of read over this when we see that he fell down at Jesus' feet and besought him. He's kind of begging, he's pleading that he would come to his house. And we kind of maybe just read over that.

[8:54] But for Jairus, a man of his stature, a man of his occupation, for him to throw himself down in front of Jesus would have been shocking to the crowd. Maybe there were some that were closer and they saw Jairus come and said, excuse me, excuse me, like, what is Jairus doing here?

[9:12] Why is he here? And we know this as we study the Gospels that most of the religious leaders and those kind of in charge of situations like this wanted nothing to do with Jesus.

[9:24] Now, he wouldn't have been a Pharisee per se, but he would have had to kind of rub shoulders with men like that. And we know that group, that religious crowd, the elite of the day, so to speak, they were very critical of Jesus.

[9:36] They slandered him and they were constantly trying to trap him. We don't know if Jairus was like that, but he would have been kind of lumped into that crowd.

[9:49] But as we come here now, Jairus doesn't care what anybody thinks. Because when your little girl is slipping away, pride doesn't matter. Positions don't matter.

[10:01] Opinions don't matter. All that mattered to Jairus was getting to Jesus. He had heard the stories. He had maybe seen some of the miracles and maybe still trying to process who is this man?

[10:14] Who's this guy from Nazareth? I mean, we all know nothing good comes from Nazareth. And Jairus was struggling and wrapping his mind around that possibly. But we see here that desperation can really be the starting point of faith.

[10:30] that sometimes God allows very difficult things in our life because it reminds us that we can't do it. That we don't have the answers.

[10:41] And see, Jairus' life proves that out in this text. So I want us just to kind of trace his journey. And I think there's some great things that we can take from this account and really apply it to our own lives.

[10:54] Number one, I think we see this in our text, that desperation can activate our faith. The desperation can activate our faith. See, as we mentioned already, Jairus had the status.

[11:07] He had the wealth. But none of that kept him alive. And the reason we find him where he is is because that was his only option. And sometimes that's maybe what God has to do to us.

[11:20] And let's just be real. Maybe that's why you're here this morning. Maybe you're thinking, and it may not just be something that everybody knows, but there's something in your life and you're thinking, Lord, what do I have to do?

[11:30] Lord, I don't understand. I need help. Lord, what direction do I go? And here's the truth. We don't like desperate situations. I don't. When there's a difficulty in my life, when there's a desperation moment, here's what I want the Lord to do.

[11:44] Get rid of it as fast as possible. Yeah, okay, just making sure we're on the same page. Nobody says, you know what, this is awesome. Let's just hang out here for a while. Nobody says that.

[11:55] But I think the question we have to ask ourselves, kind of bring it where we live, is that when trouble hits our life, because it will, I said because it will, okay, just making, I was like, man, I want to come live your life.

[12:12] I mean, Jesus told us that. That we're going to have difficulties. We're going to have struggles. But when that trouble comes, when that desperation happens, what gets activated?

[12:24] Is it fear? Because sometimes maybe that's our natural reaction. We get a report, we get, the company has a layoff and our immediate reaction is what am I going to do?

[12:35] How am I going to move forward? How am I going to pay the bills? How's this health situation going to be? Maybe it's worry, maybe it's anger. Lord, I've just been serving you, I've been trying and I'm coming to church and I'm doing these things and you let this happen?

[12:49] Why? Lord, that's not fair. Look at all these other people. They're not doing anything they're supposed to, but I am. We get angry at God. We can get mad. We can get frustrated.

[13:00] Sometimes self-pity gets activated. And we have to, we can't live there. Or maybe it is faith that gets activated.

[13:12] Because that's what we see here. See, Jairus' desperation, it activated his faith. Maybe he was kind of, kind of teeter-tottering of, I'm not really sure about this Jesus, but he came to a realization, this seems to be the only man that can do anything about it.

[13:28] And he ran to Jesus and he came and the Bible says that he fell on his knees and he begged him, he said, Jesus, you have to come to my house. You have to come because my daughter is dying.

[13:42] I know my number, I may be way back in line, but I need you right now. And that's kind of where we find him. Listen, when we're desperate, sometimes we think, well, I don't want to bother the Lord.

[13:56] No, run to him. Cast all your cares on him. Why? Because he cares for you. Because I know from my own life when I have difficulties and I have problems and I'm desperate and I try to fix it myself, then I have to go to him and say, I need you to fix this problem and I still need help here.

[14:16] We're not designed to bear the burden, to carry the load. Listen, you might be trying to handle it, but let me just remind you that Jesus can handle a broken marriage, a rebellious teenager, your anxiety, your depression, your disappointment.

[14:31] Jesus can handle what you cannot. And maybe you came here this morning and you're just tired and you're beat down and you're frustrated. You know why?

[14:41] Because you're carrying things that you cannot. And you're fearful and you're worrying and your anger is kind of boiling up. And here's what Jesus is saying, bring it to me.

[14:54] Bring it to my feet. And we can say those things, but here's where it really boils down. Do you believe that? Because Jairus did. He got to the place where he said, I believe that Jesus, I'm not sure what he's going to do, but I believe that he can do something.

[15:11] And I love this. I love verse number 42 at the end. But as he went, the people thronged him. In Mark's gospel, it says that Jesus was walking alongside and I just want us to stop and not read over that real fast.

[15:27] What a beautiful picture that is. That the Lord of heaven and earth is walking side by side with a desperate father. Because it reminds us of this truth that when we go to God and we have these things, he doesn't say, take a number, get in line.

[15:46] No, he walks with us. He walks with us through that valley. He walks with us through that trial, through that health situation. And just when Jairus thought, hey, help's on the way.

[15:57] He's thinking, wow, that went a lot faster than I thought it was. I can't believe I got to the front of the line that much. life through in an interruption.

[16:08] Don't you love when life does that? Don't you love when they go, man, this is all going according to plan. And then I always look over my shoulder because guess what? Life usually happens.

[16:19] We say, it is what it is. But here's something we can learn. This interruption teaches us another lesson about faith. that while our desperation can activate our faith, delay can grow our faith.

[16:36] I'm just as much like you in this sense. I do not like waiting. Like I will drive 45 minutes out of the way as long as my wheels are moving as opposed to setting in traffic for the five minute delay.

[16:54] Can I get an amen right there? Yeah. And then usually it doesn't work out well and I come back and it sends me back in the line. And I'm like, Lord, what are you doing? He's like, just stay on the road, man.

[17:05] But sometimes we just don't like delay. I mean, maybe you or some of the people that are behind me at the light when it turns green, point one second after it turns green, you're like, I'm like, what is going on, man?

[17:17] I mean, we just don't like waiting. And you go to a drive-thru at a restaurant and you're thinking, what's taking so long? Maybe they're cooking it. I mean, that could be an option.

[17:30] I just, you know, I would prefer them to take a little longer if it's not cooked just so my food is ready. But the simple truth is we don't like delay. Whether it's in traffic, at a stoplight, at a restaurant, and we sure don't like it when it comes to our life.

[17:50] It sure doesn't, we sure don't like it when we're in a trial of faith, so to speak. And we're thinking, Lord, if you love me, I think you'd answer this problem right now. Lord, I know that lady looks like she's got some problems, but we got some business to do.

[18:05] My daughter's really struggling. Because as he's making his way to Jairus' house, a woman saw an opportunity to get close to Jesus. See, just like Jairus had heard about Jesus and the miracles, and he thought, you know what, this is the one I need to get to, so did this lady.

[18:22] And the Bible tells us that in verse number 43 that a woman had an issue of blood 12 years. Think about that. For as long as Jairus' daughter had been alive, this woman had been suffering.

[18:36] She had been struggling. She had spent everything she had. Mark's gospel said she spent all her living and was none the better. In fact, she grew worse.

[18:49] So she realizes that my life is, it's coming to a place where it's probably not going to go well. And can you imagine having 12 years of weakness and pain and frustration and disappointment?

[19:03] Maybe some of you have walked through something like that. But hers wasn't just physical. See, according to Jewish law and her condition made her ceremonially unclean and that's kind of where you read in the book of Leviticus and you're thinking, what's all this going on?

[19:18] But it laid out laws for situations like this and really what it meant is she couldn't go to the synagogue. This place that Jairus was in charge of, this center of community where she could come and I love coming in on a Sunday morning and feeling the community and the excitement and just kind of the buzz of people talking.

[19:36] Listen, she couldn't be around that. She couldn't really have friends. She couldn't participate in the feast and the festivals which would be just life-giving to these people. She couldn't embrace her family.

[19:49] She couldn't hug them without making them unclean. See, for 12 long years she had lived in isolation and rejection and shame. For 12 years she was told, stay away.

[20:02] She was treated as an outcast. 12 years of hopelessness. She would have been kind of on the level and par with a leper. Nobody wanted to be around her.

[20:14] Nobody really could. But she heard about a man named Jesus and she thought this might be my only opportunity. And her faith began to stir and if she thought if I could just get to him, if I could just even touch the hem of his garment, I know something would happen.

[20:35] Talk about faith. She didn't say if I could just get there and he could talk to me and we could kind of work through some things and maybe he could give me some money to go to the doctor. No, her faith wasn't in his clothes.

[20:47] It was in Jesus. She said, if I can just get close enough to Jesus, I know something will happen. And so that's what she does. She gets into the crowd and she gets into the press and she kind of makes her way through.

[20:59] I would imagine just in my own mind she's kind of ducking down so nobody sees her because they probably knew who she was. They said, hey, you can't be here. And she reaches out and she touches the hem of his garment.

[21:13] And the Bible says that immediately her issue was resolved. And that's what we kind of read there in verse number 45. Jesus stops the crowd and says, hey, who touched me?

[21:27] And like Peter is just, Peter is a large child. And I'll talk to Peter when we get to heaven because maybe I am too. But you know, it's kind of like when you have a delay, here's Peter.

[21:44] Master, I don't know if you notice, there's a lot of people here. And I'm pretty sure everybody in this village has touched you. and you want to know who touched you.

[21:57] Here's who touched you. Everybody, let's keep moving. I mean, that's kind of what's going on. The disciples were baffled. They couldn't understand it. In other words, they're just saying, Jesus, what are we doing here?

[22:09] But here's what, Jesus knew it was different. He knew it was. He said, no, no, no, virtue's gone out of me. He realized that somebody came to him and he knew who it was.

[22:19] In verse number 47, the Bible tells us that she came before Jesus. She realized, well, I can't keep this a secret anymore because I just think Jesus had that kind of mindset.

[22:31] I'm not moving until I find this out. And she came and she fell down before him and declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

[22:46] And I love verse number 48. Sometimes we kind of just read over that and we think, wow, that's a cool thing. But Jesus doesn't rebuke her. He didn't say, look, I'm busy.

[22:57] Have you met Jairus? He's a wealthy, powerful man. He's got a 12-year-old daughter that's dying. And you're trying to stop me? You're trying to delay this?

[23:09] No, he didn't rebuke her. In fact, he speaks words to her that maybe he hadn't heard in a long, long time. In fact, it's the only time Jesus uses this word in the Gospels.

[23:22] He says, daughter. Somebody that had lived in isolation. Somebody that kind of had just been left to the side and saying, well, she's a hopeless cause.

[23:33] No, after 12 years of rejection, she belonged again. He said, daughter, be of good comfort. She had a reason to rejoice.

[23:43] Why? Here's why. Thy faith hath made thee whole. It wasn't that she touched the garment. It's that she believed.

[23:54] She had faith that just reaching out. We kind of remember the story of the mustard seed. Listen, she had mustard seed faith. If I can just reach out, if I can just touch him, everything's going to change.

[24:07] And he told her this, go in peace. That she had that wholeness again. That she could go and she could live her life. And that's kind of where it meets us again.

[24:19] The same way with Jairus that maybe you're here and you've been carrying a burden for years. Here's the great news. Jesus can lift that. It's not your burden to bear. Maybe you've been isolated by shame.

[24:31] Here's the great news. Jesus can restore you. Maybe you've spent everything looking for answers in the world. You've tried this and you've tried this diet and you've tried to be a better person and turn over a new leaf.

[24:45] Listen, here's the truth. Miss Tiffany sang a great song about it. Jesus has it. When we come to Jesus, we find it all. Everything you're looking for is in Christ.

[24:58] Peace and joy and love and hope. All of those things are found in him. Maybe you feel unclean, unworthy, unwanted and here's what God calls us.

[25:09] Daughter. Son. That's what he's doing. That's his mission. His mission wasn't come to heal a bunch of people and feed their bellies. He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

[25:21] He came to give us a seat at his table and adopt us into his family and that's what he reminds us and here's the connection. While Jairus' faith was being tested by delay, this woman was being rewarded with deliverance.

[25:36] See, Jesus wasn't distracted. He was deliberate. He's always on mission. He healed her publicly. I believe so Jairus and we too would see that he's never too busy, he's never too late and he's never too weak to meet you where you are.

[25:57] Because sometimes we can get this idea, well, I think God can do it for them. But I'm not sure God wants to do that for me. No, he does. He wants to do that for you.

[26:09] That's why he came. But sometimes the reality is that delays give way to something even harder to face, disappointment. Because sometimes it just feels like we're just waiting and waiting and it feels, well, it already passed.

[26:23] Maybe you're praying for something. Maybe it seems too far gone and you're thinking, well, what can I do? We notice this here in our text, number three, that disappointment can replace our faith.

[26:36] I just picture Jairus just standing there, you know, trying to, you know, keep it all together and he's a little agitated.

[26:49] He's saying, okay, can we heal faster? Can we do something? Verse 49, when he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him, my daughter is dead.

[27:02] Trouble not the master. Talk about devastating. I mean, Jairus came with faith and he bowed down and he got on his knees and he begged Jesus to come and Jesus said, let's go.

[27:16] And I can imagine maybe just the hope that was there, still struggling, knowing his daughter is on her death, but knowing, hey, something's going to happen. And Jesus is on the way. But now we see that Jairus' greatest fear had become reality.

[27:32] But I love Jesus' response in verse 50 because it reminds us that Jesus already knows what's going on. That Jesus knows our heart. He knows what we're thinking.

[27:44] And as the devastating news came, he just looks at Jairus and says, fear not. Only belief. He met Jairus where he was and he understood this, Jairus' faith is about to be replaced with fear.

[28:02] And Jesus reminded him of this, I can handle this. You came to the right source. Because sometimes when delay comes and disappointment comes, we leave the source where it's supposed to be at Christ and we try to handle it ourselves.

[28:16] And he's just reminding Jairus, no, you're right where you are. You're right where you need to be. And that's what Jesus tells us in our disappointment, in our worries, in our desperation.

[28:28] He tells us this, keep believing. Keep believing when the sickness comes, when your prayers seem to go unanswered. I'd imagine in a crowd this size somebody's been praying for something for a long, long time.

[28:43] Maybe it's a loved one that doesn't know the Lord. Or maybe it's a son or a daughter that's kind of fallen away. Maybe it is a health situation. You know what, you know what Jesus reminds us? Keep praying, keep believing when you're tempted to give up, when it feels like the bottom's fallen out.

[28:58] Just keep believing. Because Jesus knows what he's doing. His time schedule is a little different than ours. It's a little different how he operates.

[29:09] Because the reality is, and we don't have to gloss over and act like it's not true, but life is full of disappointments. Anybody disappointed this week? How many cowboy fans in here?

[29:22] Keep believing. Okay, I'm not sure that applies, but we just face disappointments. Some are silly, but on a serious note, I bet somebody was disappointed this week.

[29:36] Thinking, why? I've been praying for this and this is what happened? We have to be careful. That disappointment doesn't replace our faith.

[29:47] Because here's what Jesus is saying to you this morning. Fear not, just believe. I'm still working in your life. I know you look at all the situations and you think, Lord, have you taken a break?

[30:00] Have you checked out? No, he hasn't. And see, even when we push through our disappointment, there's still another obstacle that many times comes in situations like this.

[30:10] Here's what it is. Doubt. Doubt. You know what doubt can do? It can restrict our faith. Verse number 52. So he makes it there. Verse 51, he brings Peter, James, and John, the inner circle, the mother and the father.

[30:24] He gets there and all wept and bewailed her. But he said, weep not. She's not dead, but sleepeth. So these people most likely were professional mourners.

[30:38] See, in this culture, what they would do is, especially wealthier people, they would hire people to come to the house and weep and wail and kind of make a big ado about all this.

[30:51] And these were, these were professionals. They had seen death once or twice. They knew, hey, I'm sorry, but she's, she's, she's not here anymore. Well, Jesus shows up.

[31:02] He said, hey, why is everybody crying? She's not dead. She's just sleeping. And the Bible says that they laughed him to scorn. These mourners quickly, I mean, they can turn it off and off, professionals.

[31:15] And they just start laughing. Like, what, what is this guy doing? The Bible says, I love, I love verse number 54. And he put them all out.

[31:26] He said, get out of here. You know, you know what he's saying? Doubt wasn't going to dictate what happened next. He had already looked Jairus in the eyes and said, fear not, only believe. And I think we can tell from the text, Jairus was still holding on to that.

[31:40] He was struggling, but he was surrounded by people that said, hey, this is never going to happen. I've seen this once before. I mean, this is my job after all. She's dead. Jesus put them all out.

[31:53] And in verse 54 and verse 55, he went into the room. He took the, the young girl by the hand and he said, maid, arise. He didn't do all these crazy things. He just spoke.

[32:03] Luke. Many of the miracles, we say this all the time, Jesus speaks. Why? Because he's just reminding us who he is. Just like Luke is reminding us that he's God, he's going all the way back to the beginning where he said, let there be.

[32:17] That everything we know, he spoke it into existence. And he's reminding us that that is who he is. That even the scariest thing that we face as human beings, death, he just speaks to it and it obeys.

[32:32] It doesn't matter what it is. Jesus can handle it. And I love how Luke kind of put that, verse 56, and the parents were astonished. No kidding.

[32:45] See, here's the journey of Jairus' faith. And maybe it kind of relates to you. Maybe it's in a situation you're walking through. Maybe you are desperate. Don't let desperation turn you the wrong direction.

[32:57] Let it activate your faith. If you've got a desperate situation, you know what you need to do this morning? Run to Jesus. It doesn't matter who you think you are and what position you hold.

[33:10] No, no. You need Jesus. He's the only one that can do anything. Without him, the Bible tells us, we can do nothing. Maybe you're here this morning and you're walking through a delay.

[33:23] And you're thinking, Lord, what are you doing? I came to you. I came to this altar. I bowed by my bedside. I'm reading my Bible. I'm doing all these things.

[33:33] And this, I'm just stuck? The problem's just going to keep going on. Or maybe we feel like the problem's too far gone. Listen, delay. Instead of being frustrated by it, let it grow your faith.

[33:44] Because Jesus comes alongside and says, listen, don't worry. Just believe. Maybe some of you are here and disappointment is threatening your faith.

[34:00] Well, if this is what God does, I don't want any part of that. It's very easy sometimes to get in a situation and say, well, this is how it's going to be. I'll just walk away. Because if God loved me, He wouldn't let this happen.

[34:13] But you realize that everything in our life God is using for our good and for His glory. The Bible tells us that all things work together for good to them that love God.

[34:25] Number one, you have to know the Lord is your Savior. To them that love God and are called according to His purpose. But then the very next verse, Paul reminds us in Romans 8, 29, that all these things, here's the goal, that we would be conformed to the image of His dear Son.

[34:41] Sometimes devastation comes not because God is mean, it's because He loves you so much that He wants to make you more like Jesus. Because Jesus went through some pretty devastating things.

[34:54] Some pretty great disappointments. Some doubt that tried to creep in. That He was tempted at all points like we were yet without sin. betrayed by ones He loved, forsaken.

[35:07] But we do notice this about Jairus. And it reminds us that we can do it too. That through all the things He faced, He kept believing. And guess what He saw?

[35:19] Jesus come through. See, when you keep believing, God keeps working. He wants to be working in your life. And He does, but sometimes we want to walk away from the work.

[35:34] We get right up to it and the delay happens. We try it for a little bit and we say, well, this is not really working how I thought. I'm gone. We get past that, the disappointments, and it's not that we turn our back on God.

[35:45] You can still come to church every single time the doors are open and be just disappointed with God. God, why'd you let this happen in my life? Remember the DMV?

[35:58] You sat there forever holding ticket Z198, wondering if your turn will ever come. You're feeling like nothing's happening, like you've been forgotten.

[36:10] Maybe that's how Jairus felt. Maybe that's how the woman with the issue of blood felt. Maybe it seemed that God was never going to call their number.

[36:22] But I want to remind you of this, that Jesus never misses the number. Even when it feels like he's late, you may have heard of a man named Lazarus. He's kind of late.

[36:33] Four days late is what they thought. I love the old song, no, he was right on time. Because sometimes God allows us to go through things not just for us.

[36:46] Because guess what? There was a whole crowd that saw this woman heal. Peter, James, and John, they're still kind of trying to figure out all these things and Jesus brought them in. These were going to be the leaders, especially Peter, moving forward.

[36:58] And they just, he wanted to show them, listen, I can do this. I'm capable of that. That Jesus is never too late. He's never too busy. He's never too weak. See, when everyone else thought the line was closed for this little girl, Jesus walked in and it changed everything.

[37:20] See, maybe you've stopped believing because God is delaying. Maybe disappointment has replaced your faith with fear. Maybe doubt has crept in and it's really taking over. Here's the good news.

[37:32] You don't need a perfect faith. You need faith in a perfect Savior. And His name is Jesus. See, that's what Luke's showing us here in chapter number 8.

[37:44] So I'm challenging you today the same challenge that Jesus gives. Fear not, believe only. I don't have to know your situation, but He does.

[37:58] And these are the words that He speaks. And He just wants to remind us when we keep believing, when we keep trusting, when we keep placing our faith in Him, He will keep working.

[38:10] That's what He does. That's who He is. This is our God. Praise the Lord for that.