"How is It That Ye Have No Faith?"

Jesus was at it again.  This time it was the disciples who provoked Him. In the relatively short time they had been together, they saw Him perform a number of miracles while confounding the religious leaders with His understanding of the Scriptures and His teachings. According to Mark's narrative, Jesus not only ordained twelve disciples, He also gave them power to preach and work miracles (Mark 3:14-15).

On this day, after an exhausting time of teaching, Jesus was taking a well-deserved nap as they were travelled by boat across the Sea of Galilee into the country of the Gadarenes. Mark tells us that "there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full" (4:37, KJV). By this time, the petrified disciples awoke Jesus and said unto Him, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (v. 38), at which point Jesus "arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (v. 39).  When calm was restored, "He said unto them, 'Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?' And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, 'What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?'" (vv. 40-41). After all they had seen up to that time, they still had no idea who Jesus really was and what He was able to do.

Before we judge them too harshly, are you and I any different? We spend time with Jesus, talk about Jesus, and we have the benefit of reading all about His ministry and the miracles He performed, but how do we react when we are faced with life's storms and our individual boats are filled with water?  The disciples had power to heal sicknesses and to cast out devils, but calming a storm was something different!  Yet in His rebuke Jesus revealed something quite profound. He said unto them, 'Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?' In other words, it wasn't that they could not have calmed the storm themselves.  Their problem was they had no faith; it never dawned on them that the power that was given to them could be activated to deal with any situation they encountered.

Jesus did not have to be divine to know His disciples had no faith.  He knew that anyone with faith as small as a mustard seed could speak to mountains and not only would the mountains obey, but "nothing shall be impossible" unto those who exercised that faith in God (see Matthew 17:20).  That includes you and me.  Jesus' lesson to the disciples is still relevant to us today.  As long as we have mustard-seed faith we do not have to be intimidated by life's storms; we do not have to be anxious, nervous, or afraid. There really is no situation you can face that cannot be silenced in the presence of active faith.  Instead of "waking" Jesus to tell Him about your storm, how about using your faith, no matter how small, and speak to the storm yourself? Remember, nothing is impossible to those who believe.

"Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"

Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, was out of options.  According to the narrative, on this particular day he came to Jesus and "when he saw Him, he fell at His feet, and besought Him greatly, saying, 'My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.' And Jesus went with him" (Mark 5:22-24a, KJV).

However, as they walked back to the house surrounded by people following Jesus, they were interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood (vv. 25-34). As Jesus spoke with the woman after her healing, "there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, 'Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?'" (v. 35). In that moment, Jairus was probably devastated! If only the woman had not interrupted them! If only Jesus had not bothered to stop and talk with her! From the perspective of the crowd, Jesus was, as Bible Scholar John Gill observes, "a very worthy person, an eminent doctor and prophet, a master in Israel, and one that had done great cures on living persons in distress; yet imagined it was wholly out of His power to raise one from the dead." The girl was dead, it was over; there was no point in bothering Jesus any further.

Mark tells us that "as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, 'Be not afraid, only believe'" (v. 36). "Don't listen to them; just trust me" (The Message).  Right there and then, heartbroken Jairus had a decision to make. Here was Jesus saying to him, "Jairus, you believed that I could heal your daughter; now trust me that I can raise her from the dead." Could Jesus be trusted? Could He do what He was implying He could do? The narrative does not record any response from Jairus, but it is significant that when Jesus got to the house and put out the unbelievers, He took Jairus and the mother of the girl, along with Peter, James, and John into the room where the dead girl was lying (v. 40).  In that room, Jesus brought joy to the household with another of His miracles which left the onlookers "astonished with great astonishment" (vv.41-42).

What do you do when you are faced with a seemingly impossible situation?  It is easy to become discouraged by the facts of our circumstances.  While those are real and should not be ignored, it is worth remembering that there is a higher truth to which believers can subscribe; there is nothing that we face that is too difficult for the God that we serve. What Jesus said to Jairus, He is saying to us today: "Don't listen to them; just trust me." To paraphrase that, "Don't listen to the fact of your circumstances; just trust me that I am bigger than anything you face." Do you believe Him?

The Company We Keep

As a child growing up, my mother would constantly remind me and my siblings to be careful of the company we keep. As youngsters, we were very aware of the influence that friends and acquaintances could have on the things we do primarily because we had seen how other kids had adopted bad habits and attitudes from hanging out with the wrong crowd. Of course, growing up in the church we also understood that we were ultimately responsible for our own actions, but we could not ignore that despite our best intentions, if we were not careful, we could end up doing the wrong thing in order to maintain unhealthy friendships. I can still hear Mom's voice: "Show me your company, and I'll tell you who you are." There is a lot of truth in her wisdom.

I thought of this as I read Psalm 119:63, "I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." Interestingly, Scripture has a lot to say about the associations we form. From the formative years of the nation of Israel, through the millennia, God warned His people to avoid certain individuals, groups, and nations whose ways of being were against His laws and principles. Whenever God's people violated this directive, they found themselves in a position of compromise. It is said that we can only rise to the level of the company we keep, and for the child of God intent on walking in the ways of God, it is imperative that we be mindful of those we allow into our personal space. Our ultimate goal is not to please others, or even ourselves, but rather to please our Heavenly Father, and to help us in that objective we should surround ourselves with people of like mind.

In Amos 3:3 we read, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The agreement to consider is not so much on secular things, but on those things that are spiritual. Even among Christians there is need for vigilance in this area. We need to ensure that the meaningful relationships in our lives are propelling us in the right direction. While enjoying the joys and benefits of friendships, they should also encourage and challenge us towards conformity to the image of Christ in the ways we walk, talk, and live. This is ultimately God's priority and it should be ours as well. 

How do your friendships and relationships measure up? Now is as good a time as any for a review.