We see a period. The end, no alternatives. No second chances, no do-over. No stops, no restarts, no going back. The little girl in Mark 5 is dead. No question mark, it was final. The last breath had been exhaled. Those that knew her were in mourning. To all, her story had ended- they didn’t know she’d forever live in the pages of our bibles, or that her story would impact people centuries later. All they knew is that this young girl was gone. Nothing they did could bring her back.
Sometimes God lets things in our life die- relationships, situations- He allows them to dry up, to wither so that when He steps into that place and brings it back to life we know it could only be Him. It’s easy to forget the lesson of the woman with the issue of bleeding in the midst of this dead place, we forget that He sees even in the midst of this wasteland as we whisper like Lazarus’s sisters “If you had only been here…”.
We forget that He isn’t just the God that calms storms, and searches out the unwanted, He isn’t just the God that goes in search of the one lost lamb- He’s the God that steps through the fabric of eternity to save you.
He turned the sun back as a sign for Hezekiah, He met the woman in the street that just had to touch Him right where she was. He sought out the man living amongst the tombs when everyone else had given up on Him. And yet we are surprised when He calls out this little girl and tells her to stand.
Are there dead places in your life? Dead relationships that you are clinging to, but powerless to fix? Are you stuck in a dead situation, with no options left? He knows. He’s coming for you. He sees the pain, the brokenness- and He’s coming to meet you right where you are- just like this little girl. He spoke the concept of time into existence, He’s not confined to the little spot between the last letter of “The End” and a period He holds the whole book. He hasn’t forgotten you. You are not lost to Him, even as this little girl in Mark 5 wasn’t. She may have been lost to this world, but to Him? Not a chance.
No wasteland is too big, no storm too furious, no darkness too great, no period too solid for Him to break through and find you right where you are. You were on the devil’s hit list before you were even born, but no one says where your story ends but the Master Author himself, not the devil, not your friends, not your family- not even you. He holds the pen. He knows where to break through, where to meet you. And like a lifeguard, He reaches down and pulls you from the water.
Sometimes we have to walk through the dead places, to be reminded that He can step in and use every situation. No matter how dark, how hopeless, how final He can use it.
He makes a way, where there was no way. He is faithful, even when we can’t immediately see His presence in the situation. He’s there. He will never be too late.
Check out the rest of this series: When God Interrupts Our Priorities, When God Seeks Us Out, and In His Time, In His Way.
