“Do not be afraid, only believe.” Mark 5:36

A desert.  A hot wind blowing.  Gripped with grief, sorrow and an aching love, a man sits on the edge of a wind swept dune looking out towards a land rich with promises. His heart throbbing with the pain of loss and the uncertainty of what lies ahead.

Behind him is a sea of tents.  A mass of people; men, women and children.  They followed a man out of the only land they had ever known in hopes of finding a better life for them and their children.  That man was now gone, passed on to the heavenly realm, before they were able to enter the land beyond the Jordan.

Looking back on those tents, this man wondered just how he could lead them.  He had been Moses’ assistant for some time, and while he had faith, leaving the desert they had known since he was a young child seemed frightening.  Commanding, guiding and moving all those lives to a land, beautiful and unknown, would be no easy task.

As the wind blew across his face, doubt began to creep in.  How could he finish the task being that his great mentor could not?

A father and wealthy ruler, desperately moving through a crowd, searching. A young daughter writhing in pain and sickness in the upper chambers of their home. The house full of those who, by the day’s standard, were best suited for caring for her.  A clock ticking for not one had been able to stop the advancing deterioration of her body.

The crowd was large and wide as they waited at the harbor for a boat carrying someone they had heard of.  The excitement of His arrival pulsated through those huddled near, though they did not fully understand just who He was or what He was capable of.  A gentle, salty breeze blew through air.  The noise of the crowd and busyness of the store fronts that aligned the harbor filled the space with constant hum.  The master of the ship, the healer of the sick, stepped out onto the shore as the crowd gathered around Him.

There, the ruler, the young girl’s father, pushed himself through to front and fell on his knees, humbly pleading for his daughter’s life.  The father filled with fear at the prospect of loosing his beloved implored:

“My little daughter is at the point of death.  Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”  Mark 5:23

These moments in Joshua and Jairus’ lives give us something to ponder. A glimpse at how to find strength when we feel at our weakest, overwhelmed by fear.

The book of Joshua starts with God telling Joshua to “arise”, there was still a job for him to do despite the grief that he felt.  The time had come to move forward, and yet, God knew this new transition into Moses’ leadership role would bring about new and unsettling fears in Joshua. You see, Joshua had been filled with strength and courage long before this moment. He had displayed it since he was young. In and through Moses’ mentoring, Joshua had found and learned what it meant to face fear.

But sitting on that sand dune, alone, at the helm of the caravan filled with hearts aching and longing for a permanent home, Joshua likely felt more fear than he had ever known. There was no mortal man above him to take the fall if a wrong decision was made. No one to make the final decisions anymore. The responsibility rested on his shoulders, alone, when Moses laid hands on him before he passed on. There was no other hand to guide the staff and to discipline the people, and oh, how he had watched them love to complain. Those matters now fell solely upon him.

God, being near him, sensed the dread that had fallen upon him.  He saw the fear beginning to spiral out of control within Joshua’s grief-stricken heart as he looked over the river Jordan to the land Moses had been leading them towards.  Images in his mind of the large masses of people, animals and supplies having to fight to cross a river to head into a land where enemies would be waiting. Battles looming at his charge. Lives impacted and changed forever.

And driven across the warm, sand covered plains, these words came to him:

“Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you.  Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”  Joshua 1:5-6

While we can think of strong as being physical capable of exerting force, it is also very much applicable to what is going on in your mind.  It is to be “mentally powerful or vigorous; especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field; of great moral power, firmness or courage.”  www.dictionary.com/strength. It can involve being powerful in influence and authority as well as having the resources necessary to affect that power. Id. Yes, it can result in being aggressive and willful, but it also involves being clear, firm, solid, stable, thriving, and well-supplied. Id. Most who are strong develop the ability to resist attack as well as the ability to withstand strain, force or the wearing that occurs from the pressures of everyday life.

In some cases, to be strong may have little to do with physical fortitude and everything to do with what you believe in your mind.

As Jairus and Jesus made their way towards his home, you must understand that he was feeling an incredible amount of pressure to get there as quickly as possible.  His very words to Jesus conveyed just how sick his little girl was.  You can almost feel the dread rise as they slowly move through the crowd, only to have Jesus stop to address a woman, who was also desperate for healing.  The words that must have been running through that father’s head, “We don’t have time for this!  Please, please press on. My daughter is dying, and this woman is at least able to stand, walk and talk.  We must go. Come on!  Come on!  We’ve got to go!”

And if he thought he was filled with fear and dread at that moment, then came the startling news in the crowd.  The words rising above the rest, “Your daughter is dead.  Why trouble the Teacher any further?”  Can you imagine what overcame him in his mind? The fear no longer a little ways away, but instead, front and center: your daughter is dead and there is nothing you can do about it.  Oh, the crippling pain.  The breaking of a heart…

Yet these words were spoken to him by our ever loving God:

“Do not fear, only believe.”  Mark 5:36

I am not a fan of the idea that we can “will” life to happen by positive thoughts and considering only that which makes us happy.  The idea that we can mentally “will” the steps of our lives where we want it to go isn’t supported in God’s word.  Repeatedly we are told that it is God who orders our steps and that life contains not only good but hardship, pain and suffering.

“Will” becomes a part of the picture through the choices we make in this life as each opportunity for choice arrives.  We can’t “will” those opportunities, but as they present themselves, we will have a choice to make in regards to them. Consequently, understand that Moses never entered the promised land. Why? Because, near the end of his life, he disobeyed God. He made a wrong choice, even though he wanted to enter the promised land. We will all have moments that we can’t will or pray or get ourselves out of. Had that been the answer, Jairus would never have needed Jesus. His daughter would have already been better.

Yet, those words, “do not fear, only believe,” are obviously meant to teach us something about the moments we cannot control.  The times when we are faced with great uncertainty.  The intersections where we can pay the toll and board the fear train that allows us to crumble to the ground.

But look again, it was in that moment–the very moment the fear was the biggest and almost crushing–that Jairus, though not understanding how it could be different than what he was just told, was instructed to turn away from fear.  The antidote Jesus handed to him to fight his fear was  “Only believe.”  

Strength arises when we are willing to believe that we are not alone in our struggles. God told Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you.”  Jesus reminded Jairus that He had agreed to go with him to make his daughter well.

It’s not the size of your enemies that matters.  It is not the vastness of the open land ahead of you; the unknown of what lies unseen.  It is not the crowd of naysayers pressing against you.  It is not the swell of tents, the obstruction of buildings, nor the multitude of highways laying within your vision that prevents you from moving forward.

It is fear.

It is when we let fear begin to rise and build within. When it goes from hardly being a blip on our radar to overwhelming because of the circumstances before us.  It saps our strength as it grows.  It consumes our peace and confidence so that it might disarm and paralyze us right where we are.

But remember, the best form of strength comes in believing from within.  And where did Joshua find the strength to arise and prepare the people to embark on moving forward? By trusting and believing his journey was not one traversed alone bearing the weight of all that was before and behind him. No, he came to believe and trust that God was good to His word and would be with him each step that he took.

And Jairus?  He saw the compassion of our Savior and found the internal strength to believe there was a reason for him to continue on to his household.  He didn’t call off the journey as the others had asked.  He didn’t relieve Jesus from going.  He followed Him, choosing to believe that fear–the very real fear that he felt–wasn’t in control.

Neither of their situations were easy. Fear works best when our situations are hard. It will fight to control when you least want it to. It doesn’t come when you are strong; it preys on you when you feel weak. Sitting on a hillside grieving the loss of a loved one and feeling uncertain about the future. It will lurk when you have done all you can do and have no further control to stop loss from happening.

You won’t find the antidote in the weight room of a gym or in a self-help book of library; you may learn or gain tidbits towards strength, but they will only be components.  Why? Because much of the strength that will propel you forward in life lies in your mind.

To strengthen your mind and your thoughts comes from believing. The belief that with God, all things are possible. The thought processes of your mind that believe you are more than able, and where you are not, He is.  It is the understanding that what lies within you is more powerful in changing your world and opening up doors to new opportunities than any obstacle set in your path. Your success lies not in “willing” things to happen, but in moving forward with the belief that, with hard work and right living, you will reach your goals and destination.

Strength to overcome fear arises through believing…

“Taking her by the hand He said to her, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’  And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.”  Mark 5:41-42