Divine Encounters with Jesus – “When God Makes Me Wait”

(Mark 5:24-31) – One thing you notice when you read the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry – and especially in his encounters with people – is that he was somewhat unpredictable. Which makes sense, because our own experience is that God the Father is sometimes unpredictable as well – we want him to be on our schedule, to fix our problems when we want them fixed, but his timing and his schedule is different from ours. One of the keys to life is to trust in his wisdom and his timing, and the story of “dueling miracles” from Mark chapter 5 is a great illustration of that.

1. God’s Waiting is Wiser than my Planning (Mark 5:32-36)

• Jairus is a powerful synagogue leader — judge, jury, political authority — who comes to Jesus in humility, bowing before him: “My little girl is dying. I will risk my reputation because I’m desperate – and I believe you can help her.” Jesus is moved and sets off immediately for Jairus’ house, and the disciples are thrilled — this is the inside track to getting on the “good side” of the powerful.
• On the way, an unnamed woman who has been bleeding for 12 years slips through the rushing crowd and touches his robe. She is ceremonially unclean, broke from spending everything on doctors, growing worse. She thinks: “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately, she is, and Jesus stops...
• He asks who touched him. The disciples are incredulous: “The crowd is pressing around you — how can you ask who touched me?” Like an ambulance stopping on the way to an emergency – they want him to go, to get to the “important” healing. But Jesus is unhurried; he’s in no rush to go.
• Jesus stops so the woman would know it was her faith — not his clothing — that healed her. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” God knew what she needed to carry through her next valley, to true healing. And he knew what he could still do for Jairus’ daughter, even though his timing may not be what Jairus or the disciples were hoping for.
• The darkroom illustration: Developing film requires darkness — turning on the lights too early destroys the image. “The dark places in our lives are where God is often revealing what he knows he can do. If we prematurely ‘flip on the lights’ (try to do things our way) because we’re tired of waiting, we will never see the beautiful picture God was developing.”

2. God’s Power is Safer than My Schedule (Mark 5:36, 38-42)

• Jesus eventually arrives at Jairus’ house, but the girl has already died. Jesus knows that, but asks “Why all the weeping?” He knows what he’s about to do – and raises her from the dead with the simple (Aramaic) words “Talitha koum” – essentially, “Honey, it’s time to get up.” Compared to the incredible power of God, death is little more than a nap that he can wake us up from.
• Most of the time when we struggle to trust God, it’s because we actually have more faith in ourselves (and our plan) than we do in him. But God's power is much safer (and kinder, and more effective) than our schedule and our plan. His timing is perfect – even when we’re in the darkest places and we can’t see a way out and we think the waiting is going to kill us. As he told Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, just have faith” – trust in his plan, his timing, and his goodness.

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE

These passages may provide additional insights related to the subject of this week’s message. All verses are NLT unless otherwise noted.

Psalms 27:13-14; Isaiah 55:8-9; Lamentations 3:25-26; Romans 8:28; Galatians 6:9

Video of the Week: Mark by Bible Project

‍

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

‍

1. Have you ever experienced a time when a delay you resented turned out to have a purpose you couldn’t see at the time?  What happened?  

‍

2. Why do you think we’re so prone to trusting our own timing and our own plans instead of being comfortable with trusting that God is in control and his timing is perfect?

‍

3. Reread Mark 5:24-34 again. Why do you think did Jesus make such a big point of ensuring that the woman (and the crowd) knew that she’d been healed by her faith, not just by touching his robe?  And what, exactly, did she have faith in?

‍

4. As Jesus delayed his journey to Jairus’ house to meet the needs of the woman in the crowd, Jairus’ daughter died – and he and his family were heartbroken. Do you think Jesus intentionally let that happen? Why or why not?

‍

5. One of the most common questions asked about God and his ways is, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”  In light of this message, how would you answer that question?

‍

6. Before Jesus even got to Jairus’ house he told him, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” Is there a situation in your life where you need to receive those words right now? What would it look like to actually live by them this week?
‍

‍