Howling Dogs!

I got up earlier than usual this morning… which seemed to be the norm this week… and gingerly meandered through the dark house, opening blinds, getting the coffee brewing and turning on the home entertainment system in order to catch The Bill Gather’s Weekly Homecoming broadcast.  The show didn’t actually start for over an hour, but I thought that I’d just start the day off by listening to some good old Southern Gospel tunes.

After the coffee was poured and I had seated myself in my study, I found myself engrossed in my Bible, with one ear listening to the music drifting in from the living room.  At one point I heard a song that sounded somewhat familiar, but struggled as to recall why.  And then I remembered and had to laugh as Fiver began to slowly but purposely whimper. 

It was one of the few songs that he does NOT enjoy listening to!  I’m not sure if it is the harmony or the particular instrumentation that causes him to whimper… and then break out into spontaneous HOWLING!  So… without a moment’s hesitation, I immediately jumped up from my desk… telling the dog that it was going to be okay… and ran into the living room to temporarily change the station on the Sirius XM network that I was tuned into to.  And you know… it worked.  When I returned back into the study, Fiver had closed his eyes and was quietly resting on the love seat, while the first rays of daylight had begun to fill the room!

Once back at my desk, I continued where I had left off in my daily Bible study… and then, had to laugh again!  I had been studying the events that had occurred one day when Jesus had been stopped by the leader of the local synagogue who pleaded with the Lord to come to his house and to heal his daughter who lay gravely sick in bed.

Jesus agreed to the leader’s request and began to follow the man to his home.  But along the way, Jesus’ motion was halted by the faith of sick woman who had literally crawled through the crowd that thronged Jesus and touched His garment, believing that "if only I may touch His clothes, I will be healed." (Mark 5:28 – EMTV) 

Then, after Jesus had addressed the newly healed woman, He turned to continue on with His original mission when, some folks from the synagogue leader’s home approached them and said,

“Your daughter is dead. There’s no need to bring Jesus anymore.” (Mark 5:35 -The Remedy)

But it was Jesus’s immediate response that caused me to laugh!  According to John Mark, with whom there is general agreement that he received much of the information in his gospel from the first-hand reports of the Apostle Peter,*

“Jesus immediately, when He heard the word being spoken, said to the synagogue leader, "Do not be afraid; only believe." (Mark 5:36 - EMTV)

The Voice Translation renders Jesus’ reply as,

“It’s alright (or ‘It’s okay’), Don’t be afraid, just believe.”

I was forced to chuckle because Jesus’ reaction was very similar to mine when the music was playing and the quartet began to sing and thereby set Fiver up to HOWL in his negative response to what he was hearing.  And while my adventure with Fiver this morning was funny, it does point out a valuable lesson for the personal application of our faith in the Word of God!

For you see, the leader of the synagogue named Jairus, had approached Jesus in faith, believing that the Word that the Master had been preaching and teaching all over the area was the truth and would be confirmed by the physical healing of his daughter.  I believe that Jesus saw the faith of this man, just as He had seen the woman’s faith through her actions as she fought her way through the crowd to reach Him.

Jesus knew that the faith bonding Jairus to his miracle was vulnerable to the negative reports that came from the seemingly ‘helpful’ friends bringing the bad news about his daughter.  So, what did Jesus do when he heard the words of doubt, unbelief, and failure… words that described one who had given up any hope?  He immediately grabbed Jairus’ attention and told him to keep his faith on the Word of God and the miracle that he was believing for!

I especially like the paraphrase version of Mark 5:36 that I read this morning from Piper’s old The Way, Living Bible Illustrated where it states that,

“Jesus IGNORED their comments and said to Jairus, ‘Don’t be afraid.  Just trust me!”

I am drawn to this version because it was exactly what I needed to do when I was besieged with fearful reports by various family, friends, neighbors and strangers alike, concerning what they thought was happening to Piper and felt free to share their (un-informed) negative suggestions on what I should be doing about it! (like giving up on her and on God)  It took me a while, but I finally learned to smile and thank them for their input… and then ignore their faith-stealing words! 

It was the most efficient way for me to keep Piper’s and my faith focused on the truth of God’s Word and His reality what we were believing for.

So, what’s my point?  Stay aware of your circumstances, stay in faith for what you are believing for with a faith that is firmly founded on God’s Word of truth and don’t allow any access to other people’s words of fear, doubt, unbelief and thoughts that you might want to give up!

When you read on in the verses following Mark 5:36, you’ll see that Jairus followed Jesus’ instructions, ignored all the fear and doubt in the people around him and received the miracle of his daughter being healed and made perfectly whole!

Now that’s the results of my FAITH that I want to receive every time I believe for something that is based on the truth of God’s Word… Kind of makes me want to HOWL for joy! 

How about you?

Have a GREAT weekend, stay in faith and keep an eye and ear out for HOWLING dogs!

 

*Study footnotes from The Ryrie Study Bible – NASV – copyright 1976, 1978 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago