Desperation

Desperation

Mark – God’s Message for Today - #32 of

Jerry Watts

Mark 7:24-30

* Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is “living, powerful, & sharper than any two edged sword.” This passage reminds me that His word is living because it teaches so many truths. At first glance, the average reader notices a story about a ‘demon-possessed’ little girl, and rightfully so. However, as I studied this text there are other messages which confront us. As we read this text, we’ll also discover a woman who comes to Jesus. We’ll see that she gets exactly what she’s come for because she comes in the right attitude & gains His favor.

* These days we don’t seem to think much about the ‘favor of God’, but I suggest we should. What was & is this woman’s secret? It is ‘desperation.’ She was desperate. Let’s read.

* Our text reveals a couple of things to note. The first is found in that last phrase, “the demon was gone.” Personally, I like the sound of that. To think that it was only ONE demon brings a smile because most of us have many demons which chase us every day.

* Next, when I read between the lines in verses 25-28 it becomes obvious to me that we are seeing a desperate lady, woman, and mother. Desperation. Candidly, that is not a word we hear much in our culture. In fact, when I sensed where God was leading me in this text, I began looking for modern day illustrations which would hook our hearts to engage in this subject which we rarely visit & today seem to know little about. Some were poor in their younger years and experienced desperation, but today, seemingly we live in the land of plenty, have plenty, and this emotion has passed us by. As I looked for illustrations, I made a discovery, there were few. Yes some, but not many.

* Then I was reminded of our movie-making friends in Albany, GA, and was reminded of their last movie. The movie “Courageous opened with a display of desperation.” WATCH (CLIP)

* We know him as Ken Bevil, but he portrayed Nathan in the movie. I submit Nathan was not worried about the truck, his tools, or his gun rack; his desperation was that he would not give up his baby to a criminal. He would rather lose his life than lose his child. That’s desperation!

* How long has it been since you have been that desperate for anything? I’ve told this story before but it’s very practical: A man in a fancy restaurant started to choke on a bone. A doctor rushed over, identified himself as a doctor, and reassured the man that he was going to be all right. He performed the Heimlich maneuver and the bone popped out. As the man's breath and voice returned he said, "I'm ever so grateful, doctor, how can I ever repay you?" The doctor smiled and said, "I'll settle for one-tenth of what you were willing to pay while you were choking." It's true, isn't it, that when you're facing a crisis (especially a life-threatening crisis), you would give everything you have to get through it. Money is no object!

* Desperate is how we find this unnamed woman today. She is a hero because when she came to the end of her rope, she tied that rope to Jesus. Watch how this unfolds.

1. Her Reason – Why in the world is this woman desperate? That’s easy, something was wrong with her little girl. Very few things grab our hearts like a child who is sick. We have some friends whose granddaughter is fighting cancer. We watch, we pray, we hurt, & we cry, for this little one who, by the way, seems to be making her way through the process like a champ. But our hearts go out to them & this precious little one. When a child gets sick, especially with a life-threatening illness or with an illness we can explain, desperation sets in. Although I am speculating, I believe that this mother had left no stone unturned to find help for her girl. When it comes to children, we stop at NOTHING to get help & relief for them!

* She had tried everything & nothing had helped. She was desperate because her little girl had a malady (a sickness, illness, or something wrong – the Bible says, ‘demon’) that mom couldn’t fix. That is what desperation is. It is realizing that ‘a need surpasses your ability to help.’ This was above her pay-grade. Yes, she was a mom, but there are times that moms can only offer comfort & love. She wanted more for her girl.

* Verse 25 says, “After hearing about Him.” It seems to me that almost every week we are reading that phrase (in one form or another), but here’s the take-away, “PEOPLE WERE HEARING ABOUT JESUS.” And the only way people will ever hear about Jesus is because other people are talking about Jesus! By the way, this was not the “Hueytown Hot Line” telling the bad, this was people telling other people what Jesus had done for them! She heard how He’d healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, and changed lives; and that was exactly what her girl needed.