Handling Trouble – Part 1

My dad used to say, “Troubles are like grapes; they so often come in bunches.”

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Mark 5:35 – 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?

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Before you go any further, I encourage you to read the full Mark 5 passage in our Manna for Today.  When you do, you will quickly see that Jesus was dealing with a number of problematic issues at the same time.  Consider the following.  After delivering the demoniac of Gadara, the people asked Him to leave their country.  They did not like what He did there.  Upon His arrival back to Capernaum, he is almost immediately confronted by a ruler of the synagogue whose daughter was grievously ill.  Jesus complies with the request to help Jairus, and quickly finds Himself pressed on every side by an enormous crowd (a potential breeding ground for trouble).  With the crowd pressing Him, He perceives that virtue (power) has suddenly been drawn from Him, and He has the encounter with the woman with the issue of blood.  In that situation are numerous potentially troublesome issues. 

• The woman with the issue of blood is unclean – potential violence, even stoning of the woman by the crowd.
• Anyone she touches is immediately unclean; she deliberately pressed through the crowd, touching many people, possibly some of the disciples who were all about Jesus, and finally, Jesus Himself.
• All of this is brought to the attention of the crowd as Jesus deals with it openly.
• There is the need for amazing crowd control for a number of issues; among them, Jesus is delayed in reaching Jairus’s daughter, the crowd could react to being contaminated, the disciples had to make enough room about Jesus for the woman, Jairus, and the servant of Jairus to come together in the middle of the crowd.
• The crowd witnessed the miracle of the woman being healed.  What will happen if the mourners at Jairus’s house, in their unbelief and laughter at Jesus, encounter people from the crowd who have just witnessed a miracle?

All these potential problems, conflicts, and troublesome issues have converged on this single small porthole of time.  But Jesus was in no way troubled.  He remained unflappable, calm, steady, and fixed on His mission at the moment.  He had been sent to heal, and He was actively engaging His anointing in that purpose to please His Father.

How about the church today?  Are we going to allow the multitude of circumstances that seem to be crashing in upon us to pull of from the work of our anointing?  Will we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed?  Will we react in a frustrated manner?  Many are the problems, conflicts and issues we face today.  Our God has not changed.  He still remains El Shaddai, the God Who is more than enough, and our Lord Who is above all.

Manna for Today – Mark 5:22-43; Romans 10:13; Mark 11:22-24; John 15:7; Luke 1:37; Philippians 4:19