Mark 5:35-36

"While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the
ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe."
Mark 5:35-36


These verses are from the story of Jairus and his daughter. Here, in kind of the middle of the story, Jesus has stopped for a minute on the way to heal Jairus' daughter, and some people from Jairus' house come and meet them and tell Jairus that his daughter is already dead. It is this moment in time that is interesting to me, and I think that we all come to similar moments in our lives. We might have faith and hope in the beginning, and then there is a moment where it gets really tough to keep those alive. All of it seems to be in vain... the blackness seeks to take over our minds, and block out the light, and threatens our hope and trust in God. And, to all of us, in all of those moments, Jesus says "Be not afraid, only believe." Things will work out. Not saying that we'll get whatever we want or that no one will ever die. Obviously we won't always, and they will sometimes... but just as Jairus' story had a happy ending, so do all of our stories, if we make it through the middle verses and retain our trust and faith and connection to God. Things seem hopeless and bleak to all of us sometimes, but that feeling is never permanent. Our lives are never irreparably broken. God is our hope and our healer, and no matter how bad things seem... how past redemption or hope we feel, there is always a way back and a path to the happy ending. Today, let's remember Jairus and remember that our fear and suffering are temporary, and that if we stick with God, we can still, and always, have hope in the future.