Once I heard a pastor mention that “Jesus never met urgency with urgency.” He referred to the scripture in Mark 5:21-43 where Jesus was met by a synagogue teacher named Jairus whose daughter was dying. He pleaded for Jesus to come and heal him. So Jesus went with him.
The scriptures say that a large crowd followed him and people were crowding around him. This might suggest that Jesus wasn’t running or sprinting to go see Jairus’ daughter which you would expect, especially since she’s dying. Instead it appeared like Jesus was walking. Walking at a pace in which a crowd could keep up with him. A pace in which a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years could touch his cloak and be healed.
Oftentimes when I’m in a desperate situation and feel a sense of urgency, I call upon the Lord. I often expect Him to answer me or do a miracle in order to alleviate my worry and anxiety or perhaps “make the problem go away” so to speak. There are times where He does but most of the time He slows me down.
The fact that Jesus appeared to take his time walking to Jairus’ dying daughter and even had time to stop and find out who touched His clock in a crown makes me think that Jesus knows something I don’t. Perhaps He knew what was going to happen. Maybe He knew that his daughter was going to be healed. One thing is for sure, Jesus had faith. He did not get swayed by the urgencies of others but rather, Jesus had full confidence in who He was and what His father could do through Him.
Let me share with you a time where I needed to increase my faith in an “urgency.”
Having a newborn child brings so many “urgencies” in our lives that we never thought we’d have or could even think of prior to her being born. One of the urgencies that was sprung upon us early was trying to get Maya back to her birth weight. At the time, Maya was being fed every 2 hours and having regular bowel movements as per schedule but when it came to the scale she was on the lower end.
We were concerned as we have never had children before and this was our first time trying to keep a baby alive. It was rather nerve wrecking to be honest.
In this particular case we were doing everything “right” but it didn’t seem like it was working. We started to second guess ourselves and doubt our ability to be good parents. After feeling defeated by our expectations and feelings of inadequacy, we turned to God in prayer for help.
As we heard from the Lord, we were reminded of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 3:6 “ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” It hit us that no matter what we do for Maya, it is God who makes her grow. At that point her physical growth seemed to be out of our control. All we could do was our best and pray.
Fast forward to week 3, Maya weighed in at 8lbs exceeding her birth weight of 7lbs 13oz. We “planted” and “watered” but God made her grow.
Father, I thank you for your grace and mercy in our lives. I thank you that you are never late but always on time. I pray that you would continue to increase our faith in times of urgency to remember who You are and what You can do. Lead us in your ways. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!