You’re Not Dead Yet

“[Jesus] went in and said to them, ‘Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’” Mark 5:39 NIV

There are instances in the Bible where dead people are brought to life by God. This morning, He gave me a greater depth of understanding the story of the dead girl from Mark 5:35-43. He showed me how powerful words can be in bringing people life or death spiritually.
      In the story, the girl’s father, Jairus, went to Jesus while she was sick because he knew she was dying. He asked Jesus to put His hands on her so that she would live (Mark 5:22-25). Jesus agreed to do so. Before He got to her, though, they received news that the girl had died.
      Jairus saw that his daughter was dying and didn’t know what else he could do, so he went to Jesus. We need to learn from Jairus’ example. Instead of giving up on his daughter, he went to look for God. When we see people dying spiritually, we have two options to choose from: we can either give up on that person, or we can intercede on their behalf and ask Jesus to bring them to life.
      While Jairus was waiting for Jesus to come to his daughter, men from his house came and told him “Your daughter is dead….Why bother the teacher any more?” (v.35). While we are trying to intercede, the devil will send along people to discourage us. They will tell us that there is no hope. Many times, though, those doubts will come on their own. We’ll start to think nothing more can be done or that the person will not come back to life, so we start to wonder why we should even bother praying for them or trying to speak life into them.
      Jesus heard these people tell Jairus this and He saw that Jairus was about ready to give up. He encouraged him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v.36). God doesn’t want you to give up. He wants you to keep moving in faith. He wants you to believe that there is no circumstance or situation-no death that He cannot bring life from.
      A lot of times we think people are too far gone, so we lose hope, but God can redeem anyone. The beautiful part is, He can and will use their former death to bring life to others.
      When they got to Jairus’ house, it says that “Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all the commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him” (vv.38-40).
      We often get to a point where we start to mourn people before it’s truly over. So many had given up hope in the girl. They didn’t think anything could be done for her, even after Jesus told them that she was merely asleep.
      Many times God puts people on our hearts or gives us confirmation that they will come to Him, but like the people that had been mourning the girl, we laugh at Him. We question and minimize Him to His face. We ask, “What can He do? He can’t move them?” But the real question is, “What can’t He do.”
      We see death where God sees slumber.
      Jesus kicked everyone out of the house except the girl’s parents and the disciples that were with Him. He went to the girl, took her by the hand, and spoke to her: “‘Talitha koum!’ (which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’)” (v.41).
      Often, when someone was brought back from the dead, Jesus or one of His followers would make everyone leave so that they could bring her to life. This is because these people are only speaking death and hopelessness into those who are “dead” and so, they cannot hear God speaking life to them above all the commotion. Even though these people are only spiritually asleep, they start to believe that they are dead and allow themselves to die. Many times, if we want to speak life into someone, we need to take them away from the commotion so that they can hear and receive it.
      Once Jesus spoke life into the little girl, she immediately stood up and walked around (v.42).
      If you think you are dead or your story is over-that God can’t and won’t do anything with you-, it’s probably because you’ve been hearing the wailing and commotion for to long. You’ve been fed so much self-negativity that you have internalized it. Get alone with God, let Him speak life to you. Allow Him to wake you from your slumber.
      Jesus told the parents to give their daughter something to eat once she got up (v. 43).
      If God has recently woken you up, you cannot just rely on those waking words to sustain you. You need to keep feeding yourself His word. The negativity is still going to be there so you need to make sure you have enough of Him to get you through it. People will keep trying to speak death to you. They’ll wait for you to prove that you have been dead all along. That’s why it’s important to keep spending time with Him so that He can continue speaking life into you.
      For those who call themselves His: we have been commissioned to speak life into those in a spiritual slumber. Even if they go back to it once you have made your first (or even 50th move), don’t give up. He has started something through you and is going to keep working. He will use you (and maybe others) to keep speaking life to the person until he or she finally believes it and truly wakes up.
      To the ones having trouble standing up and walking: make your move. You’re not dead yet.