Stopping God
For many people, God doesn’t seem real at all. It’s sometimes also easy for some Christians to feel as if God might be there somewhere, but he’s too busy running the universe to really just stop and care about them.
Would you like to know how to stop God in his tracks and have his full attention? I’m going to show you how – guaranteed! So, how do you go about stopping God?
The answer is found in an experience during Jesus’ ministry. He had been on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and now he had returned by boat to the Jewish eastern shore. It’s likely that he landed in Capernaum, where a large crowd gathered around him. Mark tells us what happened next:
22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, 23 pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” 24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him (Mark 5:22–24).
The leader of each synagogue was the most important man in the local community. For him to fall at the feet Jesus showed how desperate he was to save his little girl.
You can easily imagine Jairus hurrying Jesus along to his house as the crowd surged around them. Jesus was on an important mission to save the life of the beloved daughter of an important man. You wouldn’t think that he would stop for anything, would you?
Faith means reaching out with an empty hand.
But as he is leading the crowd to Jairus’ house, suddenly he stops in his tracks, and he looks around. The crowd wonders what is going on. What could possibly have stopped the Lord? What could possibly be more important than the mission he was on? Then Jesus asks,
“Why touched my robe?”
The disciples and the crowd were flabbergasted! Everyone was pressing against Jesus, yet he asked, “Who touched me?” How could he possibly have stopped for someone’s touch, when everyone was touching him? It was incomprehensible!
And you can imagine Jairus’ anxiety as all this is happening. He had to get Jesus to his little girl!
Let me explain to you what had stopped God. There was a woman in the crowd who was sick. In fact, she had been bleeding for twelve years. She had spent her life’s savings on doctors, but to no avail, and she had given up hope. That is, until she heard that Jesus was in town.
Because of the religious rules at the time, because she was bleeding, she wasn’t even allowed to be near people, let alone touch them. She knew that she was breaking all the rules, and she thought she wasn’t important enough for Jesus to talk to her.
But this woman had heard that Jesus had compassion for the hopeless and power to heal, so, somehow, in her mind, she got the notion that if she could just touch the edge of his clothing, she would be healed also.
So she had pushed through the bodies in the crowd, until she reached out, and just touched the hem of his robe.
Throughout the ages, people have been stopping God.
Somehow, Jesus noticed this woman’s particular touch, and it stopped him in his tracks.
I can imagine Jesus looking around, and then looking straight at her, until the frightened woman could no longer hide. And so, she came trembling through the crowd. She fell on her knees before Jesus, knowing that she had been healed.
And looked at her with respect and acceptance, Jesus said to her
Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over (Mark 5:34).
God is much busier than you or me. He has a universe to run: countless galaxies and worlds untold. He has a billion problems to solve. However, no matter how busy God is, there is something that will cause him to stop and give you his full attention and concern. It’s called faith: the touch of faith.
Throughout the ages, people have been stopping God, because they have believed. Faith means reaching out with an empty hand, knowing that you have nothing at all to offer God, except your surrendered trust.
Your life might be spiralling out of control right now, and your situation might be hopeless according to the doctors or the counsellors and the experts of this world. But when you reach out to Jesus in faith, he will stop and look at you as if you were the only face in the crowd: his only son, his only daughter. And you will be healed.
Article supplied with thanks to Dr Eliezer Gonzalez.
About the Author: Dr Eli Gonzalez is the Senior Pastor of Good News Unlimited and the presenter of the Unlimited radio spots, and The Big Question. Sign up to his free online course called Becoming a Follower of Jesus to learn about Jesus and His message.
Feature image: Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
