Matthew Costner

As I drove home today I felt so overwhelmed. I guess it’s safe to say that I’m at the point in my life where I have to make a ton of decisions about my future. I love what I do for a living, but money is tight, my time is super limited, and the stress of making ends meet is beginning to affect my ministry more than I ever thought it would.

If anything, I have done and am doing my best to be obedient to the Lord, and I am still somewhat in question as to what it is He is doing in my life. One of my mentors challenged me the other day to truly begin thinking and asking myself what God thinks about the situation I’m in. I like that idea.

Here I am worried if I’m going to get everything done in my life that I need to do in the next several weeks and afraid that if I don’t get it done perfectly I will have failed. But that’s just what the world has conditioned me to think. When I was a kid in school, if the class projects weren’t turned in right on time, then my letter grade dropped. As an accountant, if I didn’t get someone’s taxes done on time, they would have lost money and I would have been fired.

In Mark, Jesus was taking His time walking to Jairus’ house to heal his sick daughter. The problem was that Jesus took so long to get there that the girl died. Jairus’ friends and family came to Jesus and basically told Him not to worry because He had taken too long, He didn’t get their on time. Jesus simply said, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”

Can you imagine what those men felt when Jesus told them that? I mean, they didn’t know the end of the story like we do. All they knew was that the daughter of Jairus was dead and Jesus didn’t help in time. Jairus and his friends were right where some of us are today. They truly thought that Jesus was too late to help them with their situation. Think about it. Some of us are already broke and dependent upon family again; addicted to medicating the problems in our life with porn, drugs, or alcohol; neck deep in lies and deceitfulness that we don’t know how to get out of.

The beauty of the story in Mark is that we know its ending. Jesus still goes to Jairus’ house, touches the girl and raises her from the dead. This story has a profound truth to teach: Nothing is late with Jesus. Our own death can’t keep Him from showing up, working a miracle, and restoring us back to life.

Sometimes the simplest things can be the wisest, and in this case, the anecdote for life seems almost too easy. Yet, if God will provide for the birds and flowers of the earth, how much more will He provide for us (Matthew 6)? So when the pressures and hardness of life get to you, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” Not only will Jesus rescue you, you won’t have to be where you are alone. I will be with you. I hope you will be with me.