Who gives us bad reports? Sometimes a teacher in school will give a bad report concerning a student conduct or academics. A mechanic looking at your vehicle may give a bad report or a plumber who finds a blockage in your drain. But when we think about bad reports, we mostly think of doctors. Usually a doctor will come to an individual or to a family and say, “There’s nothing more that we can do.” Or they might say, “The cancer or sickness has spread too far for any treatments to help.” Bad reports come to us from about every area in our lives, but none effect us so deeply as those that concern life and death. And when a bad report comes, your faith in God is either going to sustain you or you will be crushed emotionally and mentally.
Luke 8:49-50 “While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s [house,] saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” 50 But when Jesus heard [it,] He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”
Jarius had done the right thing concerning the life of his daughter and called for Jesus to come and heal her. Jesus was slightly delayed by another women who came through the crowd to touch Jesus for healing, but then a messenger with a bad report came to Jarius and Jesus and delivered the bad news. Jairus’ daughter was dead. What happened to Jairus in that moment is what would happen to anyone of us, his heart immediately sunk. When you get a bad report, and you will at some point in your life, it’s important to have Jesus right there beside you. After all, Jesus is the One who is over all life and death.
What should you do when you get a bad report? Do what Jesus said,
”Do not be afraid; only believe,…”
When Jairus came to Jesus in the beginning, he came believing, but the bad report all but killed his faith in Christ. To keep believing when you’re receiving a bad report is the challenge we must rise to. You have to believe to the end and believe through every exam and every treatment and every doctor’s visit. You must keep believing and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus to your very last breath. The only way to not be afraid and to keep on believing is to listen for Jesus’ report. What did Jesus say? “She will be made well.” I can promise you that the report Jesus gave overpowered the bad report the messenger delivered. Believe today that Jesus has the final say.
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