Devotional: Power outage

“I know that power has gone out from me.”

“Don’t bother the teacher any more.”

They laughed at him… but he took her by the hand and said,
“My child, get up!” Luke 8:40-56 

A funny thing happened on the way to Jairus’ house. Jesus is on a mission to heal a sick twelve year old, the only daughter of an important person. Dad is distraught, Jesus is responding to the 911 call. If you were Jesus you might be thinking, “I can handle this… stay focused.” But then there is the jostle of the crowd, and all of a sudden Jesus feels power go out of him. He knows that interruptions can be divine interjections, so he pauses to address the situation… during which time the patient dies. The young girl, that is. 

Three things emerge from this passage. First, Jesus was feeling differently. His team was feeling the pressing, moving throng, crowding and almost crushing Jesus. He was feeling the touch of faith and the transfer of power to the sick woman. What was Jairus feeling? If I were him, I would be feeling irritated… we have a sick girl at home, Jesus has a job to do… let’s keep moving! How do you feel? Are you tuned into your natural senses, or are you feeling what is happening at another level?

Second, he decided differently. What happened next was telling. 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ he said. ‘Don’t bother the teacher any more.’” 

The facts were correct; the decision was wrong. The information was spot on; the conclusion was flawed. They decided based on data; Jesus decided based on what he saw in the spirit and what he knew of the Father. How are you making decisions?

Third, Jesus spoke differently. Faced with a situation that looked dead, he said, “She is not dead but asleep.” And they said, “Wow, that is so cool! How did you know that? We believe it too!” Well, that is not actually what happened. Looking at the Son of God, the Creator of all things, “They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead.” Perhaps Jesus was thinking about dead people being raised to life in the Old Testament; perhaps he was seeing this as a practice session for the resurrection. We don’t know. We do know, however, that he saw the situation in faith, and he spoke in faith. How are you seeing? How are you speaking?

Some other conclusions I reach from this passage:

1. Bad things can happen to good people while they are on their way to do good things.
2. When power goes out from us, there is more to draw on.
3. Accurate data can lead to bad conclusions. What if Jesus had stopped when he heard the bad news? 
4. Something isn’t dead—whether your dream, your business or your family—until God says it is dead.

Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up.

Reflections

• Are you feeling the things Jesus feels?
  
  
• Are you deciding to see things from Jesus’ perspective? Are you distinguishing apparent facts from spiritual reality?
  
  
• Do you speak the way Jesus speaks about things that look dead? What can you say to dead-looking things in your business or career?