Will Yahweh receive Sara Duterte’s offering?

Something popped up in the news today… a story so bewildering and strange you’d think it was lifted from a tabloid. Vice president Sara Duterte will slaughter one hundred cows as an offering to the heavens in exchange for making the Philippines a secure and prosperous nation.

To the Dutertes, prosperity and slaughtering go hand-in-hand.

What does the Bible say? Let’s look at Micah 6.

6Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

7Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

Can you imagine with me a Philippines where, as an offering to Jesus, we all live justly, love kindness, and walk with our God in all humility? Where all deal with all fellow Filipinos with respect to Justice, where we show kindness to each other, where there is no haughtiness among the rich?

Thinking now of Christ’s baptism

I am thinking of Christ’s baptism recorded in Matthew chapter three, verses thirteen to seventeen. I am thinking of the Voice from Heaven that declared, “This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I Am well pleased.” I am thinking of the Holy Spirit descending from Heaven and alighting on Jesus.

And I feel jealous!

First off, Jesus is perfect. He didn’t need to be baptised. He didn’t need to declare to the world He has turned away from sin and repented and is now dedicating Himself to God. He has no sin. He is God!

My baptism was, well, with my wife and daughter. Quite historical. We were the first family to be baptised at the evening service of Union Church of Manila. We felt loved and celebrated by our home church. But no heavenly theatrics! No doves. No voices.

I am not bemoaning Jesus’ status as favourite Son. After all, He is the One and only begotten. But what child doesn’t long to make his parents proud? Don’t we all long for that affirmation? “I love this son. I am well pleased with you.”

Did Jesus need that affirmation?

The old exhortation was this: if you work hard enough to be as perfect as Jesus, maybe, just maybe, you’d earn enough good-works points to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But you gotta work hard for it. And I believe that. It’s true. Servanthood—serving God—that’s work. But I’m looking at my sonship. The one I received by grace. The adoption I received as a free gift with my salvation. I long to hear God say He loves this son. He is pleased by this son, too.

So, I do need to be like Jesus. But He’s perfect. Not for all eternity can I strive to be like that.

Not without His help. Not without His redemption. Not without His death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb. Not without His Holy Spirit.

But perhaps, I can emulate Jesus in His love for the Father. I can never obey God one hundred percent of the time. I will make mistakes. I will fail. I will need grace every day. But I can try my best to love God.

After all, He loved me first.

So maybe, maybe there was a celebration in heaven at my baptism. At all of our baptisms. Except we didn’t get to hear it. It happened in Heaven.

And if I think about God loving me perfectly, completely, then my heart can respond with loving Him back.

What is God recreating anew in me?

Is Yahweh creating in me the virtue of determination? A doggedness that won’t stop until it realizes what it works for? Is this determination to be partnered with bravery?

Is it love? A deeper love for Jesus, for my wife Veck, and my daughter Dana? A love for Union Church of Manila. A love for the lost?

Perhaps God is making Rico as he was meant to be: the actor, the author, who, by God’s Spirit, will no longer let the depression and the past sexual abuse he received from John Lustre rule over him anymore. Perhaps God is recreating Rico to be the one who takes his assignment, the great commission, seriously.

Dear Yahweh, my Creator GOD, please reveal to me what new thing you are creating in me. Am I to be an obedient son? A truly returned prodigal? A son with a Father. A warrior on this broken planet. A father to a daughter. A true and faithful husband to his wife. An unblocked artist.

What is it, Creator GOD?

(And the answer that came to me is) A redeemed heart. This is what the Creator GOD wants to create in me. I am God’s workmanship. I am God’s work of art. I belong to God’s body of work. I can trust the Creator GOD.

God, I want to be a prolific author and a respected actor. Please imbue me with love, courage, and determination. Please help me develop my memory, will, action, imagination, and faith. Amen.

Day 1. The beginning of creation

John 1.1-2
Psalm 90.2
Genesis 1.1
Isaiah 14.12-17, Ezekiel 28.13-19
Genesis 1.2a
Isaiah 45.18
Genesis 1.2b-8
Genesis 2.5-6, 1.9-13
Genesis 1.14-26, 2.7
Genesis 5.1, 1.27
Genesis 2.18-25
Genesis 5.2, 3.20
Genesis 1.28-30
Genesis 1.31, 2.1 and John 1.3
Genesis 2.2-3, Exodus 20.11
Genesis 2.8-17

I only have one copy left (the other is seriously dilapidated) of Selwyn Hughes's Cover to Cover, a chronological Bible-reading guide, which he published 19 years ago in the hopes of encouraging people to read through the Bible in the year 2000.

For posterity's sake, I post the guide here, so I can refer to it year after year should my last copy become unreadable.

Things that jumped up at me with today's reading were:

Adam's first recorded words were poetry at the sight of Eve.
God refers to the Deity as Us.
God, the Creator, gave humanity a special blessing and work. I think mine is creativity.

Loving Jesus who never leaves

Psalm 21:6 For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence.

Yes, Jesus. The joy of Your presence! When I can sense You're near, I love it. I just do. Like right now as I write this. I know You are reading it over my shoulder, knowing already the words I am struggling to put down on paper, the words in my heart. I want to tell You I love You. I love Your presence in my life. It's what makes life worth living, You being near. Immanuel.

John 7:38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Your rivers, Your flow. In the flow. In the zone. How wonderful that is. To be full of Your Spirit, to flow in Your Spirit. What a beautiful metaphor. God, I wish to experience this, and then know that hey, this, this is from God. This is God's work. Not me, not my craft (maybe helped a bit by my craft--no excuses for laziness here) but I want to be sure.

Maybe last Saturday was a clue. How when I first stepped into ISACC in July I knew you foreshadowed I would perform Ang Bagong Dating for Dra Maggay and the rest of the crew. And how last Saturday, during their 38th Anniversary, when you whispered that that would be the day, and I better start recalling the lines in my head, when I stood up, I was in the flow, encouraged by the audience, and just riding Your energy.

Psalm 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear Him.

This I shall keep in mind, Lord Jesus, as enemies threaten me. You are my Strong Tower, my Battle Shield. You are whom I choose to obey and run to. I love You, Jesus. I love You.

Promises

Romans 8:38-39. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Joshua 1:5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

These verses were from the 1-August entry of Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, which I have on a whim decided to begin reading this month. I'll end 31-July next year thereabouts. I quoted the verses above in ESV.

After reading that entry I only had one thought, which I expressed to God in prayer. I thought that the only way I could "test" these promises of God is if difficulties come. Then I'll know that God's love is closer to me than my skin, that He will never leave me, and will never forget me.

And sure enough, an enemy from the past rose from the grave and uttered threats. That didn't rattle me much, as I found my peace in Jesus. Just Jesus. But now my daughter is ill, too, and I missed work today for her. She was resistant to gargling Bactidol, which she needed for her throat, and she prayed and prayed and prayed for the courage to gargle the "bad-tasting thing without puking." I may need to pray for courage, too.

Thank You, God, for a battlefield in life right now, where I know You will keep Your promises. I trust in You. This time, I choose to trust in You.

So, the PH wins over China. Now what?

If you haven't yet heard, the Philippines won her case against China on disputed Spratly Islands. Read the story here. Now what is a Christian supposed to do?

If you have considered Beijing as our enemies, then we are obliged to pray and love the Chinese people. Also, we must remember that countless Chinese are Christians, and our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith. They are mostly persecuted, and we must love them and support them.

We must pray that any missionary trip or evangelization activities of Philippine churches to minister to the Chinese people prosper, and that this arbitration does not affect our relationship with our Chinese brethren.

We must pray for peace, that China will not choose to declare war, but to submit to international law. We must remain humble. This win may be on historical merits, but we must see that the hand of God is in this, and we must be thankful. We are merely stewards of these islands, and we must ask God how to prosper them.

Sparrow

Friends,

There was a job fair in the city, about two hours from where I live, and I went there two days ago. They were accommodating and promising, and when they said I'll hear from them "tomorrow" (meaning, yesterday) and they didn't, well, I just prayed for God's will.

The sparrow always has been to me a symbol of God's providence, because of Jesus' sayings that birds don't worry about food because God in Heaven feeds them.

Three days ago, late afternoon, I found a sparrow hopping on the ground, not flying, just going from one potted plant to another. I didn't think much about it, and Dana was delighted to watch it, until to our horror we saw it hopping towards the gate. We feared if it gets out it might get run over, or be caught by an alley cat!

After several attempts I managed to get it gently in my hands, and then I realized it was too young, it cannot fly, the tail is too short. I put her in a birdcage. Dana was ecstatic. A pet! A pet! "What shall we call him?"

Maya is the Filipino word for sparrow, but Dana liked "Sparrow" so Sparrow it is.

We bought birdseed the next day and realized it was too young to eat it. Since Sparrow arrived into our lives, we noticed more birds have settled in the trees. Ah! They must be Sparrow's parents or family, looking for him. True enough, there'd be one adult sparrow who would get some bird seed, then put it in Sparrow's open mouth.

I thought if I got that day job I might feel like that sparrow in the cage, trapped, unable to have time for my art, for writing, for rehearsals and shows. I expect a bigger bird (the company, my employer) to feed me. I felt a pang of despair.

Dana knew that in a week's time, when Sparrow is better we'll set him free. We've made some attempts of letting him out of his cage, but still he couldn't fly.

Earlier tonight while I was at my desk and Dana was doing homework we heard the cage crash. I rushed outside and found a cat poised to strike. I quickly shooed it away. Poor terrified bird. The cage was upside down, the gate was open, the cat could have easily reached inside! Dana was inconsolable for a bit. She thought she had lost her pet!

I replaced the cage on a table outside, and surrounded it with boxes. Then I placed things that would make a clattering noise against the boxes: umbrellas, hangers, sticks... should a cat try to make another pounce. Can I blame the cat? Mother Nature intended cats to be predators, and they're very good ones at that. I left a bowl of food for the cat in case it returns.

Sparrow may not understand why we keep him caged right now, but when his wings are better, we'll let him free. Jesus said, "You are even more precious to God than a beautiful bird. If God looks after them, of course He will look after you."

More about being God's image-bearer

I now begin to define sin as anything that maligns, destroys, goes against, and attacks God's image in a person. I think anything that does not treat another human being with the dignity of being created in God's image and likeness is a sin against that person and their Maker.

Here's another fascinating story from Standing through the Storm.

In China, a Christian woman was in charge of security at a coal mine. The woman suddenly felt the Holy Spirit urging her to pull the alarm lever, even though there was no apparent reason to do so. Although everything seemed quiet and normal, she obeyed the prompting within her. The whole mine was evacuated as a result of the alarm sounding, but when all the men had assembled on the surface, it seemed as if a huge mistake had been made. Just moments later, the ground beneath their feet shook and a large section of the mine collapsed from an earthquake.

Because of this sister's sensitivity and willingness to obey God's Holy Spirit, everyone's lives had been saved. In addition, 400 of the miners surrendered their lives to Christ after recognizing that God had miraculously saved them from death.

Now, I will confess something to you, friends. I am thinking whether to get a call center job or keep on as a novelist. I have consulted the Bible, the tarot, my own logic, but not the Holy Spirit. I will do so now.

photo credit ThoutCatalog.Files.wordpress.com

In step with the Spirit

I subscribe to Open Doors devotional called Standing through the Storm and I want to share an article from their archives with you today.

Two days ago I read John chapter three, and verse 8 made me wrinkle my nose. "The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God.

I asked, "God, I want to have life in Your Spirit. But I do not know what it means." I was ready to settle with having no answers. After all, maybe a true life in the Spirit is not something to be grasped intellectually, but experienced. God may have given me an answer through the SSTS essay called "In step with the Spirit". Here it goes.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25

Jesus said He would not leave us alone but would give us a Helper to be with us forever (John 14:16-18). He taught us that the Holy Spirit would be our Counselor (John 14:26). Jesus also called Him the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17).

Two sisters in southern China came to Christ in a house church meeting. Twenty months later a friend from Hong Kong visited them and asked what they had been doing since their conversion. "Starting home meetings," was their timid response.

"How many home meetings?"

"Only 30," was their halting reply.

"How many attend your meetings?" was the next nonchalant question.

"Well, at the smallest one, about 280!"

Now the questioner was totally involved and quickly continued, "How many attend your largest meeting?"

"Not even 5000, only about 4,900!"

The Hong Kong Christian was flabbergasted. In his excitement he quickly asked, "How do you ladies—both new Christians—know what to do?"

They simply replied, "We pray. And after we pray, the Holy Spirit tells us what to do!"

It is also obvious that these two ladies were then obedient to the Holy Spirit's direction. The goal of all Christians should be to live so completely under the control of the Holy Spirit that it can be said we are walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). As Paul reminded the Galatian Christians, they began their Christian lives by a miracle work of God, new birth in Jesus, and they could only expect to continue in it by God's power. This fact is even more evident in a hostile environment.

Response
The Holy Spirit wants to be my guide and counselor today. I will be obedient to His leading.

Prayer
Lord, help me to walk this day in the power of Your Holy Spirit. May I also keep in step!

And so perhaps I have my answer from two Chinese sisters whom I may never meet on this earth. Pray, and the Holy Spirit tells us what to do.

God's image and likeness

I am attending Word@Work at ISACC. I encourage all to attend it. It's a great class! We began last Saturday, but it's not too late to join in. Here's the deets:

Something new learned were the original Hebrew for the phrases "made in God's image" and "in God's likeness" repeated in Genesis 5. "When God created humans, He made them in His own likeness."

In God's image means spitting image, carbon copy, exact replica, mirror image. And in God's likeness means showing undisputable family resemblance. Ha! So the next time I am tempted to treat my neighbor with less respect and dignity, I need to remember that all humans were created in God's image, and I better think twice about my attitude.

I wonder what Enoch did to have had such a close and intimate relationship with God. But that is the wrong question. I can make an entire religion out of the answers I would devise for that question. What Enoch and God had was their own special thing. But I can develop my own close and intimate relationship with God--the Rico and God way. For me, it's always prayer in the form of writing, and acting on stage. It is the practice of the gifts He has given me. What's yours?

photo credit SamJTanner.com

The heart of the Gospel message

John 3

16 For God expressed his love for the world in this way: He gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.

17 Here's the point. God didn't send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

18 No one who believes in Him has to fear condemnation, yet condemnation is already the reality for everyone who refuses to believe because they reject the name of the only Son of God.

19 Why does God allow for judgment and condemnation? Because the Light, sent from God, pierced through the world's darkness to expose ill motives, hatred, gossip, greed, violence, and the like. Still some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark.

20 Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes.

21 Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.

Jesus spoke with a fundamentalist

I find it astounding that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was welcomed by Jesus, even when he needed to meet with Him at night. Nicodemus was a fundamentalist, to use our post-Reformation label, one who is well-versed with legalism, and who's failing at fulfilling the Law. And Jesus said this: "You must be born again." Say that to a fundamentalist today and they might fume. "I am a Born Again Protestant!"

I am glad Nicodemus responded otherwise. He asked Jesus to clarify. "How can I be born again?"

Jesus' reply to me was cryptic. "The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God."

I cannot begin to understand what that means, but I think that's the whole point. Once I feel I have grasped it, understood it logically, then I have lost it. It is the wind. It goes where it does. Life in the Spirit, this new Life we are born again into, is a constant Second Circle connection to the Spirit's Presence, and a moment-to-moment obedience to His Will. It is, by its very nature, unpredictable.

I think we evangelicals have missed the message somehow. We thought we needed to be born again so we can be ensured of going to heaven when we die. Isn't that what John 3:16 promises? Yes, but there's more than that. It's not just life hereafter. It's life here and now.

We need to be born into the Spirit so we can belong to the kingdom of God, or as I like to think of it, under the kingship, rule, and authority of God. We are positionally placed into His rulership, His dominion, and we become subjects to the Sovereign King whose will is fulfilled. It is a transference from the world's darkness into the Light. No more hiding in the buses like our parents Adam and Eve did.

"Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God" (John 3:21).

God, I want to be born of the Spirit. Please, Jesus, I want this life that You offer.

photo credit KingOfWallpapers.com

First three hours of the day

This is obviously an oversimplification, but practices I learned from three books: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande have helped me device my own morning rituals. I think of the first three hours as a sacred offering to God. One hour of morning writing. One hour of yoga. One hour of silent meditation.

The problem is, I switch on Facebook or check e-mail, and then I'm lost in the sea of social media.

I intend to change this pattern and stick to my regimen of worship. I think this is akin to Cain's offering. If I don't give God my first hours, the best of my day, then it's a mediocre offering. It's leftovers. It's nothing special. And God may have no regard for my stale worship.

"Don't you know that as long as you do what is right, then I accept you? But if you do not do what is right, watch out, because sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce on you! You must master it before it masters you" (Genesis 4:7).

Note to self: Rico, it is no use to be envious of God's favor on others. It is no use to be consumed by jealousy. Imust come clean before God.

When Seth was born, the people began to call on the Eternal and worship Him. This is in stark contrast to Cain, who was banished from the Presence of God. I have a choice now: to worship God, or turn my back on His Presence. Always, there's a choice.

Here's a famous quote from Lord Byron: "The water met its Master and it blushed."

John 2:5 Mary turned to the servants. "Do whatever my son tells you."

What is Mary's Son telling you to do today? His true servants will obey His every will, for He seeks to turn your wash water into delectable wine. He seeks to blossom your faith.

The blessing of physical death

I happened upon this thought after reading Interview with the Vampire, a novel by Anne Rice. In the book (if you haven't read it, please do!) a grieving plantation owner is turned into a vampire and given immortal life. Now he bears his pains and memories forever.

I realized that death in itself is a blessing. It is a painful experience losing a loved one. I do not mean to diminish that. And with the recent events at Orlando, and Syria, and really anywhere in the world, death is unwelcome, an aberration, an interruption from what makes sense.

But some people do long for death after a long, laborious life on this earth. And it is with death that we leave this body and enter Eternity.

Life is a blessing. Death can be a blessing, too. After all, the death of Jesus on the cross was the greatest blessing to mankind. That, and His Resurrection! Life!

The sound of God

"When I heard the sound of You coming in the garden, I was afraid because I am naked. So I hid from You," Adam said in Genesis 3:10.

What once was a sound that gave a thrill: "My Maker is coming! Love is here! Eternal God who breathed into my nostrils and gave me my life, He is here!" has become one that brings terror.

I remember times when I sin and I felt afraid of God, shrinking in shame. I also remember times when I actually did not feel any shame, but more a brazenness, knowing that my heart had become calloused with sin and not giving a care at all. Eitherway, God's heart is broken when I sin. And Jesus' body was broken because of my sin.

God gave His Son, Eve's Offspring, as the promise for our salvation. And God killed an animal--foreshadowing the death of Eve's Offspring, the perfect Lamb of God, to clothe Adam and Eve with its hide.

Forbidden fruit at the centre of the garden

I theorize that the reason the tree that gives knowledge to good and evil, with its forbidden fruit, is in the center of the Garden east of Eden, is that any point of decision where we either obey or disobey God is made from the center of our hearts, our soul or being.

God takes it seriously when we choose to obey or not obey Him. I don't think it was an accident that the tree was in the middle of the Garden.

This teaches me that the next time I make a decision to yield to temptation, or to obey God's Word, that God is with me in the center of my heart, and I can make the right decision by the power of His Spirit. More importantly, that these decisions should be made from my Centre, where my Awareness and Presence springs from.

Unlike Jesus

John said, "From beginning to end, Jesus' days were marked by his love for His people." God, I am not like that. I hope you can change me to be like You.

I now assert that since God commanded me to love Him and to love my wife, Veck, anything I think, say or do that is not loving to either God or Veck is sin.

I am thinking of Abram, when You called him to be uprooted and be transplanted to a different land. He obeyed You without hesitation, no matter how difficult Your command was. And when You blessed him and his descendants forever he built You an altar.

All commands are to be turned to obedience. All blessings are to be turned to worship. And if my voice and body are Your temple, then my pen and paper is the altar I shall worship You on.

God, thank You for loving me from beginning to end.

Don't be afraid. Just have faith.

Every day, I receive a devotional via email. Mostly I breeze through it and click delete. But here's a series from Faith Gateway that I fully loved and thought to share. The reason I love this series is that it causes me to think deeply, and touches me to the core. I forget about religion and obligation and having to offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. What descends upon me is the knowledge that God loves me, and that compels me to reach out to Him, too.

I used to pray to God for absolutely anything and everything. Like a child in a long car ride talking to his parent about all sorts of memories, sights seen along the road, anticipations! I remember Dana on out-of-town trips to Baguio and she would talk almost incessantly! I enjoy those moments, and her openness in speaking her heart to me, and I realize that is how I was with God when I was a younger Christian. What changed? Why did I suddenly stop talking to God about anything?

I suspect it's the many disappointments in life, the many unanswered prayers, many times my heart has been broken. But I realize now, even in those times and about those times, I can talk to God. So here's the devotional...

This is excerpted with permission from Me Too by Jon Weece, copyright Jon Weece. Published by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Ever felt desperate? Ever been in a situation in life when you were totally and completely helpless and you didn’t know what to do or who to turn to?

I have a friend whose son was murdered. The son stood up for a boy who was being picked on by a group of bullies, and the bullies killed him for standing up for the weaker kid. The bullies were from families that were politically well-connected, and no charges were filed against them. It was one of the most difficult funerals I’ve ever had to preach because the room was filled with anger and confusion and pain.

Friends and family members were desperate. They didn’t know what to do with what they were feeling.

“We trust Jesus,” were the words I heard the mom say over and over again. “Only Jesus can help us get through this.”

Jesus was approached by a dad whose daughter was sick and needed help. The dad’s name was Jairus, and like me, he was a preacher.

Jairus came and fell down before Jesus, pleading with him to heal his daughter. “My little daughter is dying,” he said in desperation. “Please come and lay Your hands on her; heal her so she can live” (Mark 5:22 NLT).

I recently walked into the home of a family whose college-age daughter had taken her life. Pain and shock don’t even begin to describe the emotional climate of that moment. It was sheer desperation. One family member hyperventilated and passed out upon receiving the news.

That family didn’t need me. They needed Jesus. They needed a power greater and bigger and stronger than themselves.

That’s why I love this little line in Jairus’s story:

Jesus went with him. — Mark 5:24 NLT

In the same way that Jesus walked with Jairus, He will walk with the family in our church who lost their daughter. He will walk with you too.

It doesn’t matter if Jesus is your first option or your last option; if you want help, Jesus wants to help you.

I keep a picture of a seven-year-old girl with cancer in my prayer journal. The photo won a prestigious award for photography a few years ago. The picture shows her looking in the mirror, and in her reflection she has drawn a head of hair. The radiation and chemo that robbed her of her beautiful hair were replaced by a vivid imagination, and an equally avid hope that her hair would soon return.

I keep it where I can see it because it reminds me that all of us need help. All of us have something in our lives that we wish we could change. All of us have a challenge requiring a power greater than our own. But all too often we’re afraid to ask for help because we’re afraid to admit that we need help.

As Jesus walked with Jairus to his house, some friends of Jairus showed up and let him know that his daughter had died.

“Why bother the teacher anymore?” they said (Mark 5:35 NIV).

Why bother?

Have you ever thought that?

I’m so out of shape, why bother eating right and exercising now? My marriage is so far gone, why bother going to counseling now? I am so far in debt, why bother putting a budget in place now?

Or students, maybe you’re thinking, Why bother staying pure when all my friends are messing around sexually and making fun of me for guarding my virginity?

Why bother?

I have some friends whose two-year-old daughter, Olivia, has an inoperable brain tumor. They were recently told there was nothing medical science could do for her. They sent her home to die. I talked with Olivia’s dad about the decision.

“Her life with Jesus really will be better than her life with us,” he said over the phone. “But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept that we won’t get to see her grow up.”

As a dad, my heart broke when I heard that.

Olivia’s dad was tired, so I decided to bother Jesus on his behalf. And here’s why: Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jairus,

Don’t be afraid. Just have faith. — Mark 5:36 NLT

Sometimes we need to follow Jesus’ example and ignore the doubts of those around us. Jesus can do things that no one else can do, but that is hard to believe when pain surrounds us on all sides. It’s also hard to believe because we’re surrounded by other people who can also do amazing things.

Jesus walked into the bedroom of a little girl who was dead and did something that no one else in the course of human history has ever been able to do.

Holding her hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha koum,’ which means ‘Little girl, get up!’ And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!” — Mark 5:41-42 NLT

Raising someone from the dead defies all explanation. Jesus is in a category all to Himself, and that’s exactly why we need to bother Him. It’s why we need to tap Him on the shoulder and ask for help. It’s why we need to put our faith in Him.

Faith is used as a noun 243 times in the New Testament. Faith is used as a verb 243 times in the New Testament. What does that tell us? It tells us that faith is equally about what we believe and what we do with what we believe.

If what I believe about Jesus doesn’t translate into how I live, then what’s the point? Belief has to affect behavior for it to be faith. Jairus believed Jesus could heal his daughter, so he asked Jesus to heal his daughter. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain by trusting Jesus to do what no one else can do.

My good friend Jud has practiced medicine for more than thirty years, and he said the legal definition for death is the cessation of all brain function, which is irreversible.

The key word is irreversible. What makes everything that we consider impossible to be possible with Jesus is his ability to reverse the irreversible.

And I haven’t mentioned it yet, but on the way to raise this twelve-year-old girl from the dead, Jesus healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. One woman’s blood stopped, but another woman’s bleeding wouldn’t stop. One was rich and one was poor. One had everything to lose and the other had nothing to lose. What Mark is trying to help us see by comparing and contrasting these two women is that Jesus doesn’t discriminate. Educated or uneducated, rich or poor, young or old, male or female — all Jesus sees when He looks at us is our need, and what He wants us to see when we look at Him is His ability to meet that need.

Jesus can do what no one else can do.

Augustine once said, “Miracles are not in contradiction to nature. They are only in contradiction with what we know of nature.” Jesus not only created the natural world we live in. He also controls it.

In the natural world, people want to limit conversations to facts. The fact is this little girl was dead. But another equally valid fact is that Jesus raised her from the dead. He also raised Himself from the dead.

So what do we do with Jesus? Seriously, what do we do with someone like Jesus who seems to be a self-contained source of unlimited power?

I think there’s only one thing to do.

Trust Him.

I remember praying for my dad to be healed from cancer, and I remember the moment he died. My oldest brother said, “God answered our prayers.” Though I wanted to keep my dad around, I knew the greater miracle wasn’t the fact that God could heal him of cancer, but that God could raise him from the dead.

So I’m doing what I did before my dad died.

I’m trusting Jesus.

One of the reasons I trust Jesus is because of what he did for the little girl after he raised her from the dead:

He told them to give her something to eat. — Mark 5:43 NLT

Being dead will make you hungry.

What this little detail in the narrative tells me is that Jesus really cared about her. Her growling stomach mattered as much to Him as her beating heart. And when everyone tried to direct all the attention toward Jesus, He immediately redirected it toward the little girl. I’m drawn to His humility as much as I am His power, and it makes me trust Him and love Him even more.

If you’ve reached a point of desperation in your life, can I encourage you to trust Jesus? If you feel as though you’re facing something that is impossible to get past, can I encourage you to trust Jesus? If you’ve said “Why bother?” in recent weeks, can I encourage you to trust Jesus enough to bother Him?

Tap Him on the shoulder and ask for help.