Will you hold on…???

I had an amazing couple of days this past weekend.

The month of April in my country

marks the end of the first school term so that means holiday

time and holiday camps! And since I serve in our kids ministry

I went for camp with the kids I teach.

This was one of the best camps I have been on. Yes, I was

involved in the planning and organizing of it but I still had fun!

The kids we went with had a blast! As a leader it was a privilege

serving the children.

But what stood out the most for me was how God came and

ministered to me and the other leaders. I have been trusting

God for a lot of things and I have to admit it gets hard. It’s

hard holding on in faith and this weekend my faith was tested.

But in the testing God used the three days I was on

camp to re-adjust my focus.

This is what He spoke to me about:

 

“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they

were all expecting Him.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell

at Jesus feet, pleading with Him to come to his house

because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Luke 8:40-55″

 

We all know the story very well but there are a few things

that I saw that jumped out at me that I would like to point out:

 

– Jairus came to Jesus because he had faith in Him. He believed

Jesus would heal his daughter. Jairus was desperate! He may

of tried a few doctors but with no luck.

 

– Jesus stopped walking when the woman with the issue of

blood touched Him. I am sure Jesus knew how desperate and

serious Jairus’s situation was but He still stopped?? How do we

know the woman with the issue of blood had that problem for

twelve years and how do we

know she used all her money on physicians with no change?

We know all this because one of the disciples must of taken

the time to speak to her. He must of spent some time asking

questions or Jesus must of simply listened to a healed ecstatic

woman tell Him how she had spent

all her money on physicians with no results and tell Him how

long this went on for!

Whatever the case, Jairus was waiting! What was on his mind as

all this was happened? Did he push Peter to speak up…?

 

“When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are

crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45

 

Where was his faith then?

Did he convince Peter of the absurdity of Jesus question? We

don’t know…..!

Then it happened….!

 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the

house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is

dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49

 

What exactly was going through Jairus mind? It was faith

and desperation that led him to Jesus but was that faith

still there? Did Jesus take His time with the woman knowing

Jairus was desperate?? Did He want Jairus to endure

in his faith???

Having faith and enduring in your faith are two completely

different things. We do well when we trust God but is that enough?

We must also learn to endure in our faith. That’s the lesson

I learned on camp.

Jairus had faith in Jesus but his faith was tested. He had to

learn to endure in his faith he soon found out.

Don’t lose hope along the way! Jesus has not forgotten your

faith! Jairus may of felt like Jesus didn’t care or had forgotten

him but He didn’t!

 

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized

with alarm or struck with fear;

Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she will be

made well.     Luke 8:50

 

When Jairus faith was failing, Jesus was right there

to encourage him. Jesus wants us to endure in our faith.

You may be trusting God for something and weeks,

months and years have passed without anything happening

but be assured,

something will happen as long as you endure in your faith!

Don’t give up in your faith. Don’t let fear cloud the truth

about your faith.

The truth is, God will come through!

God has heard you and will not let you down!

He wants to help you more than you will ever know!

Your faith is precious to God!

Your faith pleases Him.

As long as you have faith, the enemy will always lose!

 

At the end of the day, Jairus got his daughter back. Jesus

did a miracle in his life because he endured in his faith no

matter how bad things seemed!

Jesus knows where you are at. He has not forgotten about

you. He says,

 

“Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she shall be

made well.” Luke 8:50

 

Believe He is able to help you.

Believe He has heard you because He has.

 

As I sign off I want to encourage you to endure in your faith.

That is what I was challenged to do on camp!

God bless….

 

Rolain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have got competition…..

I had an amazing time at kids church today. It was one of those weeks where the kids were very responsive. It was great. My responsibility at kids church is to lead praise and worship and I love it. After church though one of the other leaders came to me and told me I had competition…….I know, you probably wondering, and that affects this story how????  🙂

For the past year I have been leading praise and worship at kids church. On any given Sunday we have two teams that teach. One team will teach the really small kids and another team will teach the older kids. I lead praise and worship for the older kids, but this week I was teaching the younger kids and I was not able to go and lead praise and worship like I usually do. So one of the leaders came to me when we were done and told me I had competition. He told me how one of the other leaders led the kids well in praise and worship. I went on to tell the leader that it’s not a competition because it really isn’t. I have been taught that as a leader you need you be able to duplicate yourself. I am glad when there is someone else who can do what I do. A leader without followers is not a leader. What is the point of being the only person who can do a specific thing? In Africa this is our biggest problem. We don’t want to teach others what we know because we are afraid we will lose our job. We are afraid we will lose the attention. We are afraid we will seize to be important. And that is why we don’t grow. We can be so much better than we are now and I believe there are people who are starting to see how important it is to pass down the knowledge they know. A real leader has followers, people he is leading. It’s not a competition. It is about extending the vision, it’s about growth.

When I used to work at a Thai restaurant the head chef was like that. He was afraid to teach other people what he knew. Instead he would teach them a portion of what he knew but not everything or he would teach them the wrong thing. He thought he was being wise but he was wrong. As leaders it is our job to duplicate ourselves. It’s a shame to be the only one!!!! Please remember, it is not a competition. God will bless you because you liberally gave what you know. I am here because someone stepped out and taught me what they know. They did not hold back. Are you like that? Do you freely give what you know? A leader is not a leader if he doesn’t have followers. And a leader has not succeeded if he is the only one that can do what he can do. There is a much bigger picture at work here. It is not a competition. Be eager to teach others and watch and see how God will bless you.

Rolain