Keep Believing When Hope Seems Lost | Thursday
Devotional
WJust as Jesus was speaking with the woman who had been healed, devastating news arrived for Jairus: ‘Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.’ Can you imagine the crushing weight of those words? After risking everything to bring Jesus to his daughter, it seemed like it was too late.
But Jesus had two powerful words for this grieving father: ‘Don’t be afraid. Keep believing.’ Notice that Jesus didn’t say ‘believe’ as a one-time act – He said ‘keep believing,’ which implies an ongoing, continuous faith even when circumstances seem hopeless.
This is where faith gets tested. It’s easy to believe when things are going well, but what about when the doctor delivers bad news? When the relationship falls apart? When the dream dies? Jesus calls us to keep believing even when everything around us screams that hope is lost.
Jesus then redefined the situation entirely: ‘She is not dead but asleep.’ What looked like death to everyone else was just a temporary condition to Jesus. He has the power to speak life into our deadest situations, to bring hope where there seems to be none. The same Jesus who raised Jairus’ daughter is still in the business of bringing life to dead situations today.
Bible Verse
‘While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” – Luke 8:49-50
Reflection Question
What ‘dead’ situation in your life is Jesus asking you to keep believing about, and how can you choose faith over fear in that circumstance?
Quote
Don’t be afraid. Keep believing. That’s the present tense of that verb or those words in Greek. It’s not only believe, like once, keep believing.
Prayer
Jesus, when my circumstances scream that hope is lost, help me to hear Your voice saying ‘keep believing.’ Give me the faith to trust in Your power to bring life to my deadest situations. Amen.