Shepherd Elie Hamuli
Mark 5:21-43
When Jesus ascended into heaven, He had assured His church that He would leave His church—believers, with His perfect peace (read John 14:26-27). Thus, we as believers are obligated to anticipate Christ’s second coming. While we wait for Him, He accomplishes many things through us (read 2 Peter 3:12). However, when we cultivate a habit of ‘fear’, it so greatly prevents us from perceiving what God wants to do through us. We as humans have no control over the future (for God is the only One who fully knows and is in control of the future), and so fear frequently centers on our uncertainties; particularly when we have preparations in place that are not going as planned.
Besides that, the world is not in a good state; and although the news informs us of this and is not always evil, it frequently has an agenda that raises fear and anxiety. As a result, one is more likely to experience such symptoms when they are not rooted in the important Truth (which is the Word of God). Therefore, it is crucial to avoid succumbing to the panic brought on by the news. It is the understanding of some essential details pertaining to our relationship with God that protects us from such. It is also important to remember that when we read the Bible, we see that Jesus never ministered to anyone while under the influence of “fear”.
He always began by wishing you shalom, (peace). This is because peace is an important factor one needs, in order to be led by God. In addition to that, boldness is not necessarily the opposite of fear but not having faith is what makes one look for peace in particular things, making them feel even more nervous because they are not focusing on God Himself.
Reading the passages extracted from the book of Mark 5:21-43, we witness the effectiveness of focusing solely on Jesus while tuning out the noise of the outside world. In verse 23, Jarius heard about Jesus [pleading fervently], just like the woman with the issue of blood. He had a preconceived notion of Jesus, in which a “pattern” was formed: Jesus had to appear, put His hands on his daughter, and make her whole. In our daily lives, a similar pattern is also discernible, which subsequently introduces “fear.” This specific pattern that we anticipate from God, ultimately causes one to be closed off to what God might miraculously do for them outside of how we expect it to happen.
On the other hand, the woman who had a blood issue in verse 27 was disqualified by the law, but she went beyond the restriction and realized something better than the law, which motivated her to go to Jesus. She must have heard of Jesus’ graciousness, gentleness, and love, which then gave her a particular attitude and motivation to approach Jesus. If you continue reading, you’ll notice that a time factor (verse 35) posed as an interruption to the pattern Jarius must have had for his daughter’s healing, and the crowd was the obstacle for the healing of the woman’s blood issue (verse 27).
There are many patterns in our lives that we make for ourselves expecting that those plans will happen exactly as we intend, however, they are flawed, and so when they do not take place exactly as we intend due to interruptions or obstacles, we become dreadful. Furthermore, certain circumstances force us to change how we expect God to provide for us by altering our expectations for how our plans will work out rather than totally putting our faith in Jesus Christ. As the verse says “Little children (referring to how we should perceive God as the Father) … The One who is in you is Greater” (1 John 4:4) remember that God is in you, God is with you and God is for you.
Jesus loves you, not only by the utterance of words but by the action that He displayed on the cross of Calvary. Hence, it is very important to stay rooted in the Word of God by hearing the appropriate things about Jesus Christ as He is presented in the Bible so that you approach Him in that manner, just as the woman with the blood issue did.
This is the first step towards your battle against fear. Proverbs 17: 22 offers a remedy for illness and despair. The “joy” referred to here is the one found only in Jesus Christ.
In Mark 5:35-36, note that the circumstance in which Jarius had found himself was important to Jesus. When the news arrived that Jarius’ daughter was dead, his messengers also told him not to bother the Teacher [Jesus] any further, Jesus ignored them and instead responded [directly] to Jarius and not the crowd telling him not to be afraid but to keep believing (read verse 36).
The response Jesus had given Jarius demonstrates that faith is not just ‘boldness’, it has substance, and that substance is only truly the Word of God [which is Jesus Christ] (see Hebrews 11:1). In verse 37, we see that Jesus had stopped the crowd from following them except for some of the disciples (He separated Jarius from the ‘noise’).
Following, verses 38-40, Jesus also chased out the people who were present in the room – the people who would have caused Jarius to doubt his faith. This shows us that the unbelief of people is dangerous (creating fear and doubt).
With that being said, the above passage proves that Jesus cares about the people in your surroundings thus you cannot expect God to intervene or work wonders if you are surrounded by pessimists or “doubting Thomases”. It is fundamental to surround yourself with Believers in the Lord who can strengthen your faith and support you while you stand in prayer when terror approaches your doorstep.
The famous ‘Psalm 23’ describes one of the attributes of Christ represented as the very Good Shepherd where His proximity is described to us in Psalms 23:1-6.
There is this proximity and nearness that is entailed to us in the ‘darkest of valleys’ and this shows that He is there going ahead of us and with us, fighting every unforeseen battle that we may go through while here on earth. Hence, God gives His rest by confirming to us His presence in which we can rest assured that He will never leave nor forsake us (read Hebrews 13:5). Cast your burdens unto Jesus because He cares for you dearly, and do not yield to fear instead keep on believing!
