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"She is Not Dead, but Asleep!"
Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
Does it look to you as if your dreams are dead? Does it look as if the promises of God will never happen for
you? Then you need to rejoice, because God is not a liar. What He says will happen will come to pass!
"Don't be afraid; just believe" (Luke 8:50).
Your dreams are not dead, just
asleep!
When Jairus, the synagogue ruler, and his wife were told that their daughter was dead in Luke, chapter 8, they were faced with this challenge: "Don't fear, just believe!" It was obvious to
everyone present that their daughter, their only child, was indeed dead. At this devastating report, the Lord told them not to fear, just believe. In spite of death, which seems very final, He challenged them to believe
that she would "be healed."
He did not say she would be raised from the dead, but that she would be healed. He said "healed" because, to God, even death is not final. What they saw as final and
hopeless, God saw as nothing. Nothing to fear. Nothing to panic over. Nothing! Even death is nothing to our God.
If you have been told by even the highest authority that your situation is hopeless, that your dream
is dead, you need to rejoice. God's reality is much different from the world's and His is the only one that matters.
Jesus did not see their daughter as dead. That is why He said: "Stop wailing . . . she
is not dead, but asleep" (Luke 8:52). Many of you need to hear that. Your dreams are not dead, only asleep. You need only to believe, in spite of what your circumstances appear like. It may look as though you will
never succeed, but our Lord is challenging you today. Do not give up, just believe. Trust Him in spite of all the wailing going on around you. You will see your miracle.
Hope On
There have been times in my
life when disappointment has dealt a crushing blow to my faith. The pain was so great that I resisted Christ's urging to keep hoping. I wanted my hope to die. I did not want God to give me more faith to believe, just to
have it crushed again.
However, it is hard to resist the Lord's urging to HOPE ON. Oh, how our Lord loves to test our faith this way. I wish He did not, but that is how our faith stretches. That is how we learn
that He does not lie and that He is faithful to keep His promises.
The longer we believe His Word and have peace in spite of the wailing going on around us, the more solid our faith becomes. Please understand, we
are not trusting in our faith to help us; that would be our works. No, our faith is in our Father who loves us and who will never let us down. Though we are bruised, He will never let us be crushed. If He has promised us
something, then it was His idea to begin with. He is the one who has to finish the work He began in us.
"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault
and with great joy - to the only God our Savior" (Jude 1:24).
If your dream seems dead or beyond hope, then be encouraged because you are on the verge of a miracle!
Shut Out the Wailers
"Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. 'Stop wailing,' Jesus said. 'She is not dead, but asleep.' They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead" (Luke 8:52-53).
When
the enemy is laughing at you because of your faith, then sit back and breathe a sigh of relief, because your miracle is surely on its way. God will never let us be tested beyond what we can stand. So, if people are
harassing you because of your faith in God, then know you are nearing the end. Be encouraged by their doubting. Do not let it get you down. Help is on the way!
"When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not
let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her" (Luke 8:51-52).
We need to step away from the wailers.
These are the people who do not see God's reality, but only see in the natural. They are not bad people, but they have not been privileged to hear the conversations that the Lord has had with you.
Jesus told
Jairus alone that his daughter would be healed if he would not fear but just trust in Him. When God speaks to us about something, He tells us and no one else. It is our task to believe Him, not the other people around
us.
"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).
Faith is seeing with your heart what your eyes cannot possibly see! Do not blame the people who cannot
see your dream. Indeed, you need to love them. But there are certain things that God shares with you that should stay between you and Him. They are too precious and too personal to share (see Matthew 7:6).
Come
to Your Senses?
People who want to "bring us to our senses" are really very foolish, because the Bible says, "We live by faith, not by sight," which is one of our senses (2 Corinthians 5:7).
"Coming to our senses" means we live in the natural realm and not in the supernatural realm. They say, "If we cannot see it or hear it ourselves then we will not believe." That's anti-faith and
anti-God, or should I say anti-Christ.
The wailers want so bad to help us. They want us to face reality. They say, "Come on, Jairus, anyone can see your daughter is dead." "Don't bother the teacher
anymore" (see Luke 8:49). What did Jairus have to gain by giving up? A dead child? When your back is against the wall and your only hope is Jesus, then hope on!
You are in good hands, for God is well able to
care for all that you have entrusted to Him. When He is in control of your life, you have nothing to fear. Just believe in Him and He will turn your darkness into light, your death into life.
"He holds victory
in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones" (Proverbs 2:7-8).
TRUE WISDOM IS - TRUSTING IN GOD! So,
don't be afraid, just believe.
Pray this with me:
Dear Father,
Help me to trust You to guard and protect all that I have placed into Your care. Let me not comply with the voices of worry and fear.
Help me to see life with my heart when all my eyes see is death. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that You have done for me and all that You will do for me in the future.
(Scriptures in this message are from the NIV.)
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