Luke 8: 40-56
What motivates you to make changes in your life? Think back to a time when you made a change in your life and ask the question, “What motivated me to make that change?”
I’ve always been interested in what motivates people to make changes in their lives so this past week I did a little research on the topic. What I discovered from many studies in many different fields across the board was basically the same thing.
The greatest motivator in taking action to bring about change is . . . pain.
If I have hunger pains, I’m motivated to find something to eat. If I am experiencing the pain of no money, I soon get motivated to get a job. If I experience enough physical pain, I am motivated to see a doctor. If I am in a situation that is painful, I seek ways to rectify, reconcile, or remedy it.
Pain though unpleasant, is a strong motivator and can be a call to action.
C.S. Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
And 1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.
So pain and suffering are normal? I thought it was something you were supposed to avoid at all costs?
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
In other words, if I want to be mature as a Christian disciple, which is our entire goal, then I need to not run away from pain and problems, but use them to develop my faith. In other words: use the pain as an impetus for action and change.
Our passage tells us this morning that it was pain that lead two very different types of people to Jesus.
41 a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
Jairus, a religious leader of the Capernaum Synagogue had not been previously known to be particularly friendly toward Jesus. In fact Jesus had been quite controversial during his previous visits which didn’t sit very well with Jairus. However, something had changed. Jairus was now desperately in pain. Though he may have detested Jesus, the anguish of his daughter’s imminent death now caused him to come to Jesus.
It was not his love for Jesus that brought him, nor was it what he hoped to do for Jesus that brought him. What brought him to Jesus was his desperation.
Folks, despair, pain and fear are often the prelude to grace, hope and faith. It often is when people find life beyond themselves that they look to someone bigger than themselves. In this hour of extreme need, Jairus came and “fell at the feet of Jesus and begged him to come to his house.”
It was during this time of great anguish and pain that this man of prestige and position cast aside all of his pride and reserved standoffishness and fell face first at the feet of Jesus with the hope that He might cast a lifeline to his little girl.
This synagogue leader from Capernaum now joined the ranks of a woman who just a few weeks before had wiped Jesus feet with her tears and her hair in the same town, but was considered an outcast, a woman of the streets.
And what drew this connection between the two, what connected these two people, one a synagogue leader and the other a woman of the street? Pain!
Pain was the motivating factor. Their pain caused them to look for a solution, an answer, and a way to alleviate the strain.
Jesus immediately went to help this man in need. And as He made His way through the crowd 43 a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but could heal her came up from behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
Mark 5:26 records that she had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
For twelve years long and agonizing years she had steadily grown weaker and weaker as she suffered from terrible hemorrhaging, which not only caused her to suffer physically, but socially. According to Lev. 15, the Jewish Law her condition rendered her as unclean. Therefore people treated her like a leper and no one could touch her. She was ostracized from society, barred from the temple, probably divorced by her husband and abandoned by her children.
She was desperate and in despair!
And though she was barred from contact with people and was disallowed from the crowds that gathered to see Jesus that day, she nonetheless, pushed through the crowd and touched Jesus robe. Why? Because she was in pain!
This poor woman who was a cast away and cut off from her family, her friends and even her faith and had spent everything she had on doctors was in pain and that pain caused her to act. It caused her to take a chance! It caused her to activate that mustard seed of faith that was lying dormant on her heart that had been trampled under so many feet. And that my friend is the essence of faith!
James 2:22 says that faith is made complete by what we do . . . and that v. 24 a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
Faith without works is like a car without gas. It expects from God what is beyond expectations and Faith is looking to God for help when you’re tired of looking to yourself.
And such was the case of Jars, a prominent man from a renowned family, with a prestigious position as the ruler of the synagogue desperate. The pain of watching his little girl ebb away before his eyes was too much. But it was his pain that caused him to act.
It was his pain that caused him to take a chance on Jesus.
It was his pain that cause him to fall at Jesus feet and too beg him to come to his house.
What was common between these two people who were from different sides of the track?
What did this outcast and this insider have in common? What bonded these two together like peas in a pod at the feet of Jesus?
It was there pain! Both of them were beyond human help and so they came to Jesus for help.
But folks, faith must be activated, for faith is more than just waiting on God, its expecting an answer. It is the gateway between man’s peril and God’s provision.
But in order for to activate their faith these two had to overcome some obstacles.
The woman had to stop saying; “I’m too physically weak to come and ask Jesus”.
The man had to block his thinking that said “I’m too spiritually strong to need help from Jesus.”
The woman had to not use the excuse that said “there’s too many people to get to Jesus and I’m considered unclean.”
The man had to lay down his attitude that said “there are too many people that will see me needing Jesus and it will tarnish my reputation.”
The woman had to amend her thoughts that said, “I don’t want everyone seeing my problem. I don’t want to hang out my dirty laundry.”
The man had to bar his outlook that said; “I don’t want everyone thinking I have a problem, I don’t want anyone thinking I have dirty laundry.
What attitude, thought or excuse are you using to block your faith in coming to Jesus this morning? Maybe instead of a crowd of people – it’s finances, or pride, or shame. What is it that is keeping you from reaching out to Jesus? What is standing in the way of you falling at His feet?
This woman came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. She came to Jesus secretly from behind because she may have felt unworthy to approach Him directly.
Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever not want to bother the Lord or you feel like you’re not worthy enough to come to Him with your bleeding?
But Jesus Himself tells us to come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matt. 11:28
Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
In the midst of this crowd, this massive throng of people pressing in around Jesus this woman merely touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and He felt it.
v.45 "Who touched me?"
Jeremiah 29:13 says, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
This woman wasn’t just reaching out with her hand; she was reaching out with her heart and Jesus knew it and He felt it. He always feels it when we reach out with our heart.
Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you." 46But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."
When you reach out to Jesus, you are tapping into His power and it changes your life. Folks, you can go to church, read the Bible, pray 1000 prayers and still, never reach out to Jesus.
You can sit on a church board, head up the spiritual life committee and take mission trips to the neediest of places and still, never have a touch from the Lord.
Religion won’t save you! Even believing all the right things won’t save you! Only Jesus can save you and only as we willfully and deliberately reach out to Him, as feeble as that may be, like this woman, He knows it and will seek us out. Why? Because reaching out to Jesus is an act of faith and this woman used her pain to activate her faith.
47Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
She didn’t say anything! She didn’t confess anything! All she did was reach out to Jesus and touch him. In her need great need she found her greatest hope. When her life was ebbing away, she found power, love and hope flowing into her.
Why?
Because she was tired of the pain!
She was tired of the rejection and the hurt and the pain. And so in many ways, pain became her allies. It became an ally because it caused her to look to the Lord for help! What causes you to reach out to Jesus? What causes you to stop your endless searching for meaning, for answers and solutions to life’s problems? Unfortunately for many of us, it’s when the pain becomes too great to handle!
Now while Jesus is still speaking to the woman concerning her healing, a servant comes from Jairus’ house with the bad news, v.49"Your daughter is dead,”. "Don’t bother the teacher any more."
Poor Jairus must have been exasperated beyond words at this interruption. Precious time was being lost as the life of his little daughter slipped away. He must have been thinking, “Come on Jesus, My daughter is dying, who cares that someone touched you, much less this throw away woman!”
But to Jesus, not one is a throw away, everyone is precious.
The delay however brought disastrous results, Jairus’ daughter had died. What pain and disappointment and even anger must have flooded Jairus’ soul?
50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed." Jesus literally says to him “start believing and do not stop believing”
Fear is to be met by Faith. Faith is not the belief that we will always get what we want but the belief that God always knows what is best! Faith is assuring, insuring and enduring. Faith is following the Lord even in the darkness of our fear and pain.
So off they went to Jarius’ house and the people are all wailing and mourning and carrying on and Jesus says "Stop wailing," "She is not dead but asleep."
53They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54But he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" 55Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.
C.S. Lewis “(Pain) removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul”
Pain and problems create crisis in our lives. Crisis comes from a word that means “decision”, a fork in the road that requires us to make a decision and act.
Pain can be that crisis in our lives. And that crisis puts us at a fork in the road. And the question is, which way will we go? Will we take the road to recuperation or will stay on the road to deterioration?
The pain you face will either defeat you or develop you. It will either move you toward Jesus or away from Him. Unfortunately most people fail to see how God wants to use their pain for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their pain rather than pausing to consider what benefit it might bring.
Here are six ways God wants to use pain in your life:
1. God uses your pain to DIRECT you.
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Pain often points us in a new direction and motivates us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? "Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the inmost being. Proverbs 20:30
2. God uses your pain to INSPECT you.
People are like tea bags...if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God ever tested your faith with pain? What does your pain reveal about you? "When you have many kinds of troubles you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3
3. God uses your pain to CORRECT you.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something...health, money, a relationship by losing it."...It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71
4. God uses your pain to PROTECT you.
A pain can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. .An employee was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem-but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were eventually discovered. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good..."Genesis 50:20
5. God uses your pain to PERFECT you.
Pain, when responded to correctly, is a character builder. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship with God and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. "We can rejoice when we run into problems...they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4
6. God uses your pain to BLESS you.
Ravensbruck was one of the worst concentration camps in Germany during WWII. Fleas and lice were so thick that upon entering the bunkroom, one became swarmed in them. Nonetheless, Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom had smuggled a Bible into the camp and traded it back and forth during the day. If the guards found one or caught anyone having meetings, they were to be executed. At first, the women held these meetings very timidly. But as the weeks wore on and no guards came into the bunkroom, they grew bolder. Corrie marveled at this. Why was it that no guard came in? On day,
Betsy excitedly told Corrie, "I found out for why, Corrie. I overheard two guards and they will not step foot in the bunkroom because of the FLEAS! Thank God for the fleas!" though I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Ps 23:4
Disciples of Jesus, we need to learn to use the pain that is upon us and the pain that will come for the glory of God!
Pain
