HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY FOR NEXT MONTH

Part 1

Time To Rise To A New Life

(While sleeping in the midst of noisy folk)

By Tshwarelo

Ladies and gentlemen, I greet you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and saviour. It is an honour and a privilege to deliver this particular message on this particular day for this particular audience. It is also a belief deeply entrenched in the farrows of my heart that God has manifold purposes for women in this country. So, as we celebrate women’s day, I want us to visit a biblical story that adequately addresses the needs of women in the midst of their surroundings. I am talking about the woman as an individual being, and the woman as a crowded person.

Crowdedness has become a normal life for so many women in our society as they believe it is their role to do everything for everyone while neglecting who they really are. They give everyone what they want but they can’t give themselves the very little they need. Women have become overcrowded. However, I want to assure you women today that God only intended you to be a helper meet for the man, but not to become a slave-horse meet for pulling every chariot that moves wherever it lists. God wants you sane and focused. Just because Jesus taught us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves, women have taken it upon themselves to love everyone while neglecting to love themselves. That’s wrong, you are misreading the great commandment. I feel so overwhelmed that women have learned to sacrifice all the time to the extant that they even sacrifice who they are. They compromise their principles just to please someone else. Sometimes they even let other people’s principles become their own principles. And they become shell-shocked when the robes of these principles don’t seem to fit. Whatever they try to do in order to please someone they can’t seem to do it right or to enjoy doing it because deep down they know that’s not who they are. It’s all done in the name of love, sacrifice and principles. In the name of love women have committed social suicide. In the name of sacrifice women have offered themselves to men who don’t love them equally. In the name of principles women have missed out on the kind of relationships they want and in the name of compromise they have become victimised. In the name of selflessness women have missed the best years of their lives.

Now how do we celebrate Women’s Day when it means another woman will continue to suffer abuse in the hands of her husband, in the hands of her boyfriend, in the hands of her parents, in the hands of her relatives, in the hands of her siblings, in the hands of her friends, in the hands of her colleagues or bosses? How do we proudly stand up and celebrate women when they still suffer sexual harassment at work, at home and yes, at the church? Doesn’t it shame us that we still perceive women as domestic workers who are only paid for their trouble by staying and taking insults? How do we say thank you God for creating women when we treat them like punching bags? It’s a mammoth task, really, to hail women Queens when we relegate them to the duties of a common concubine. Obviously, gender equity is still a problem in this country. Many women have given up on dreaming because they have attuned themselves to believe the deceptive words of those who tell them that their dreams are fantasies that only happen in soap operas. Women are no longer receiving flowers, unless it’s way to say I’m sorry for beating you up last night. They are no longer going out on dinner dates unless it’s a new man who is still trying to get in her pants.

It is said that behind every successful man there’s a strong woman. But men have become less and less successful because they have weakened their women. That’s why we have unsuccessful leaders and a serious leadership crisis in the country. It’s because wise women have been told to shut up. But as I said before, we don’t need to despair. God is in the business of building people’s lives, everyday. Today he will build our women, by strengthening their faith. I wish to keep the speech short, but there’s just so many precious elements found in women that won’t allow me to just rush through the message without going into details. However, time won’t allow for everything to be said. So, we will share whatever we can for today.

Let’s turn our bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3: 1&2, to get the title of our message. According to the King James Version (all verses are in this version), verses 1&2, we are taught a very important truth that will impact our lives, whether as men, women or children. I must emphasise, I am not talking to women only, but I am specifically talking about women. It is interesting to note that the book of Ecclesiastes itself has blamed women for some of the things that go wrong in life, but today I will use it to defend women. I am aware that these two verses have been used mostly at funerals, where families are grieving the death of a loved one, but let us take a better look at them.

“For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.”

Clearly these verses sound like they would work better in a sermon meant to comfort bereaved souls. But I know that everything works together for good to those who love God. Everything includes strange verses, even the two we just read above. There is indeed a season, a time and purpose for everything that happens under the sun. Birth is usually beautiful and promises new life and boundless opportunities and a curious future. Yet, death signifies the very end of that new life that came through some form of birth. So the two, look more like enemies than cosmic opposites. But a further read of the bible will teach you how the negative aspects of something can be viewed from a far much positive view. The writer here continues to teach about the manifold seasons and times, and purposes. After putting the fear of God in us by evoking the scary thought of death, he talks about a time to plant and a time to pluck (pick) up that which was planted. He talks about a time to reap that which was sown. The bible further teaches us that as long as the earth shall stand, so shall the time for sowing and harvesting. I want to talk about a different form of harvesting today; a new way of plucking up that which was planted. The book of Revelation chapter 14:15 tells a story of end-time angels reaping the ripe fields f eternal harvest while Matthew 9:37 illustrates how plenteous the harvest is, but with only few labourers. Verse 38 encourages us to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send harvesters to the field. Well, we have prayed.

Today, I believe that we are at the field, and we shall harvest, we shall pluck up and we shall reap that which was sown. That’s why my message today is titled, “Time to arise to a new life.” Yes, I believe it’s time for our women, and men, to rise to a new life. It is time to be plucked up from the dry ground of death, where we have failed to grow and become fruitful in our societies for such a long time. Time to come out and become fruitful; time to become the people our God destined us to be. The title of the message is, Time to arise to a new life; and in brackets, (While sleeping in the midst of noisy folk).

I fully believe that it is time to rise to a new life while we are sleeping in the midst of noisy folk. The writer of Ecclesiastes, possibly King Solomon, says there is a time to be born and a time to die. But did you know that Jesus taught us that there is a time for the dead to rise? So, from Christ’s point of view, death is not the end, it could in fact be the beginning. Although I won’t refer to the story of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus while his sisters thought he was talking about the resurrection when Christ would return in a white horse, I will touch some aspects of his story. Of course his sisters thought Jesus was talking about something that would happen some thousand years to come when he said Lazarus would rise, but they were shocked when he raised Lazarus from the dead that very same day. Today, I’m talking about women rising to the opportunities that await them. In the book of 1 Corinthians 14:42, Apostle Paul talks about the resurrection being like planting and plucking up that which was planted. When we compare this verse with Ecclesiastes, we see that there is a season to pluck up, and for this purpose God is calling us to rise up. There is an appointed time and a divine purpose to do so. This helps us see that even though there’s a time to die, there is also a time to rise. Jesus says we must pray for such a time in Matthew 9:38 because he believes the harvest is plenty; the only problem is labourers.

1. Time to pray like Jairus

To go deep into our topic, I want us to use a fairly famous story in the bible. It is the story of a father named Jairus and his daughter, un-named. Jairus was a leader of the Old Testament church, called a synagogue in Jewish practices. Jairus knew the Old Testament and its laws. However, knowing scriptures did not help him when real problems confronted him. One day his daughter became sick, very sick, to the point where she was almost dead. Being a great leader and man of the law, Jairus must have been raising his daughter well and hoping that she would grow up to be a responsible, God-fearing woman, who would also get married while she was still a virgin. In those days women who lost their virginity before marriage were stoned to death in public. And according to the law, your father was supposed to lead the people to stone you to death because you had broken the law of God. This kind of law brought grief to many parents as they dreaded the thought of leading a mob to kill their own children. However, Jairus’ daughter was not facing an angry mob of religious fanatics who wanted to kill her for breaking the holy canon – she was facing physical disease and death in the eye. So, Jairus was about to lose that which he loved most. His religious teachings had not prepared him for his daughter’s unannounced disease. They had merely made her a good daughter, which made it a worse feeling to lose her at such a tender age. Jairus was in trouble, but he knew that Jesus was in town. Let’s read the story. Go to the same Matthew 9, but back it up to verse 18.

“While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead; but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.”

What great faith. Lay your hand upon him, and she shall live. When you look at the verse above, the ruler fell down and worshipped him. How many rulers can do that today? How many BEE’s can put aside their Hummers and Q7’s, just for a moment and worship God? How many of us, in whatever position we are in life, can swallow our pride and admit that we need Jesus to lay his hand on our situation so it can become better? Jairus knew how to pray, but he only knew how to pray to the Old Testament Jehovah who demanded burned sacrifices and sackcloth, not to Jesus who just wanted faith. However, during his moment of confusion, Jairus did not look at who he was, he looked at who Jesus was, and like John the Baptist, he believed that, “This is my son, in whom I am delighted.” He believed that Jesus was a man sent from God to come and help those who were in a mess. Jairus was in a mess, but unlike many, he knew where to go. Do we know where to go when our daughters are at the verge of death? Do we know whom to call when our young women are dying of AIDS? Do we know what to do when our little girls are running all over the world with strange men they met through Mixt? We need to remember that all women were little girls yesterday. She can look and act like she’s all that, but deep down she is still a little girl who needs her daddy’s love and protection. She can act tough when she’s out there in the world, but it’s because she was taught not to trust anyone, and to use all the defence mechanisms in the book to cover up her weaknesses and fears. But Jairus knew exactly what to do. The book of Mark 5 says he fell on his knees and worshipped God. It is Time to pray like Jairus. Time to pray like Jairus. There’s a time for everything; you can act bold and all, act like you are not afraid of the situation you are facing, but there is a time to fall down and pray. Jairus prayed a prayer of faith, believing that God will restore his little girl. Mark 5:23 explains the same attitude of prayer that was displayed by Jairus, who was not ashamed to admit in front of a large crowd that he needed help. It is possible that among the crowd were some of his synagogue members and followers. He didn’t care; he just wanted Jesus to help him. Can you imagine, someone like an MEC, or premier, or president (Robert Mugabe) admitting before people that they need God; admitting that they are not as smart as they appear to be. Imagine the scientists coming forward to say that they don’t know what HIV/AIDS really is or how to cure it, and admitting that they need prayer, that they need God. It’s unthinkable, yet here is a man who claimed that he knew God. He’s admitting before the world that his religious experience and his church-going activities are worthless when it comes to saving his daughter’s life. Do our women know that there is a girl inside of them, a woman of dreams and a virgin of pure innocence? What do you do when that little girl is in trouble? What do you do when your innocent dreams of romance and happy-ever after are about to die forever because of the things you have learned about marriage? Do you sit on top of your high horse and claim that you know everything or do you go before God and tell him what you need? Do you rely on the low statistics of happy couples and rising statistics of single women to tell you that you will never be loved in your life? Do you rely on your education and independence while forgetting what you really want in life? Do you rely on the hurtful words that your partner or friends keep on telling you to define who you are? It is time to pray like Jairus. But let us look at how Jesus responds.

2. Time to let Jesus arise

Matthew 9 verse 19 tells us what Jesus did when the man fell down and worshipped him. It tells us that Jesus rose up to help the man.

“And Jesus arose.”

I want you to know that when you call upon Jesus, he will arise to help you. See, Jesus is not the kind of dude who watches while his own people suffer. He’s not like a mother who will ignore her daughter when she tells her that “daddy” is molesting her. Jesus arises from his seat of comfort to your level of conquest. You don’t need to act like a martyr when you are nothing but a victim. When Stephan was being stoned for preaching the good news in the book of Acts, he started praying in the spirit and saw Jesus standing on the right hand of the Father. But the bible doesn’t say Stephan asked Jesus to help him, he instead asked Jesus to forgive those who were hurting him. We call this martyrdom. It is when you are prepared to die for the Truth. But unfortunately many women are prepared to die for a lie. They rather die in a miserable marriage than admit that it is a mess. They would rather die having an abortion than admit that they are pregnant. They would rather die from debts because they want people to esteem them highly when they can simply admit that they can’t afford this or that. Women would rather die from acting as if they are strong when they could admit they are at the verge of a breakdown and need some urgent help. Jairus could not let his little girl die. He was prepared for the stigma that would come with him worshipping Jesus than continue to live with the pain of losing a daughter. He chose to go to God than to stick around in his position of power just to prove that he was the man. He believed that when he tells Jesus his predicament Jesus would arise to his rescue. Time to let Jesus arise. Time to let Jesus arise. It’s your time to do what you know will help you, not what your friends expect from you. King David wrote in one of his psalms that we should Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. It is our time to allow God to work on our situation. This we can understand by keeping his Word close to our hearts, and to keep it flowing through our mouths. It is the time to let Jesus arise. He did not tell us to fight our enemies, he taught us to pray for our enemies and to bless those who curse us. This did not mean that he wanted us to become victims. He was telling us to place our faith in him, to trust him to deal with those who seek to do us harm. Jairus had faith in Jesus and trusted that he would deal with the disease that had put his daughter on the verge of death. He was asking Jesus to help him confront his demons. Now you must understand that there are many ways to let Jesus deal with your enemies. Jairus asked for Jesus to place his hand on his daughter, and believed that this method would save her. To some people Jesus used a different method. Remember when he used mud and spit to open the eyes of a blind man? With other blind men he just spoke words and their eyes opened up. With the woman with the issue of blood, she just touched the hem of his garment and became healed. When God arises to help you out, don’t expect it to be in the same way that he helped your friend. God will use whatever method best suits your belief system. If it’s prayer and fasting for you and like Jairus you believe “she shall live” then you got it. If like Thomas you want to feel the holes on his hands for you to believe, then you got it. It’ between you and Jesus, like it was between Jairus and Jesus, not between Jairus and the crowd. Do what works for you, as long as you know that you need Jesus to come to your rescue. Time to let Jesus arise.

3. Time to beware of the opposite word

When we continue the story in Mark 5:35&36, we learn that on his way to help Jairus, Jesus was stopped by a certain woman who also needed help. However, sadly for Jairus, when Jesus was now ready to attend to his daughter, some servants came and told him some bad news.

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he said unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.”

Can you see that? Can you see what happens sometimes when God arises to help you? There are certain who will arise from your synagogue, from your social circle, from your neighbourhood, from your workplace, from your women’s club, from your very home, yes, even from your church, where you fall down and worship. You will recognise these people by the kind of word they speak. They always speak a negative word. They are bearers of bad news. Indeed, these people sound practical in their approach of the problem when you are trying to be spiritual about it. You will notice that they won’t encourage you to find a way; they will persuade you to give up on the situation. They will tell you that it is over. They will tell you that God won’t help you out in this kind of situation; they will politely ask you not to trouble God. They will sway you by all kinds of reports to get you to stop bothering God. But only those who bother God will be able to receive help. Even when the disciples were afraid of a storm in the middle of the sea, they received their help when they asked Jesus for it. Jesus embarrassed them of course when he asked why they were bothering him? But at the end of the day he arose and delivered them from death. The bible puts it clearly that those who call upon the Lord shall be saved. It doesn’t matter how little your faith is, if you believe that calling upon God to arise will save you, do it, you will grow your faith later. Jesus was a master of faith, and Jairus knew that he could do anything for him. But certain people believed Jesus was too much of a master to help Jairus. It is Time to beware of the opposite word. Time to beware of the opposite word. They gave Jairus the bad news, but Jesus gave him the good news. He said don’t be afraid, only believe. We must not only believe in God, we must believe God. The certain people called Jesus the Master, but did not see how relevant that was to Jairus. Every time you hear an opposite word to what God promised you, go to the word again, and you will hear, don’t be afraid, only believe. It is when you stop concentrating on your worst fear that your faith becomes a reality. When you read the book of Job 3:25, we understand why God allowed Satan Job to harm his servant Job. Many preachers can’t explain why God allowed the devil to harm his children while he said through Jeremiah that “My plan is not to harm you, but to prosper you.” Let us look why Job was in trouble.

“For the very thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come true.”

Fear put Job in the mess that he was in. And as you read the story of Job you will see certain which come to him. They don’t encourage him to be strong; they tell him that God was punishing him because he had sinned. But the truth is that Job meditated too much on fear instead of meditating on the testimonies of God like Kind David once wrote in a psalm. You need to meditate on how he was able to save people from the Old Testament through to the New Testament to the present day South Africa. Job’s fear became a factor (the fear factor). But Jesus is warning Jairus not to fall for the same trap because Jesus knew it when Satan was speaking. At other instances he told Satan to shut up, at this instance he tells the believer not to listen to Satan (fear). Women tend to believe their fathers more than they believe God. They tend to believe their husbands when they tell them that they are as good as dead. Some men tell you that you are nothing without them and you believe what they say, and you stay in an abusive relationship because you believe there’s nothing for you out there. Don’t be afraid, only believe. When some people look at you, they see a dead person, but Jesus says, don’t be afraid, only believe. Maybe you don’t have a job, and your friends and family have turned against you. The situation looks very severe; it looks like it’s all over for you. The report that you are listening to is clear, she is dead. Don’t be afraid. You must understand what Jairus was going through. He went to fetch Jesus although he was a leader of a Jewish sect, which rejected Jesus and called him a child of fornication. Now here he was, here are certain from his synagogue, here is their report. But when Jesus heard the word that was said, he said to him, don’t be afraid, only believe. Jesus understood what fear does to a person. He knew that Jairus could also faint to his death from being afraid. Many people learn they are HIV positive and they become afraid and die from their fear. They believe it is over with their lives, but Jesus thinks otherwise. Look what Jesus does from there

4. Time to choose your allies

As soon as Jesus reassures Jairus, he stops everybody else from coming along with him, except for three disciples he could trust to believe with him. Mark 5:37.

“And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.”

Jesus could tolerate many things, but he was impatient when it came to negative people. He immediately told the certain, and the crowd which followed him, to stop where they were as he headed to Jairus’ house, where the daughter was. He stopped negative people in their tracks. The great lesson to learn here is that there comes a time in your life where you have to keep negative people away from you. Mind you, this is not just something I’m saying for the hell of saying it. I mean it. You can’t afford to have negative people in your life when you are faced by serious problems. Such people will lead you to committing suicide or to dropping dead due to high levels of stress. Choose your friends carefully; choose who must come with you to the place of faith where God must perform a miracle for you. Some of you women have changed for the better but you still hang with people who won’t stop reminding you of the bad you have done in the past. They won’t let you forget that you had an abortion. They won’t let you forget that you had sex with a married man. They won’t let you forget that you slept with your boss to get a promotion. They won’t let you forget that you once did hard drugs. They won’t let you forget that you once stripped for a living. They won’t let you forget you were promiscuous during your days. They just won’t let it go. Every time you spend a moment with them you are going back to the past. They won’t let you rise up; they want you buried. They want to pull you down, the proverbial pull her down (PHD) syndrome. You better believe it, PHD existed even in the days of Jesus. They told Jairus that it was over with the little girl. They are telling you that you will never regain your innocence. You believe them. You believe that since your uncle raped you years ago it means you are dirty, and you deserve to die. But that is not true. Stephan would never die for that. What happened has happened; it’s in the past and should stay there while you move on with your life. Living in trauma won’t help you. I was once attacked by robbers in Bushbuckridge, but I was able to run away from them. They attacked me during the night and that left me traumatised. Every time I thought of the incident I crept under the bed of fear in my mind. Although they were no longer there, I still felt under attack. I felt vulnerable. My freedom was taken away from me. But one day I said enough is enough. I was tired of being their slaves. I let it go, totally. I left the past and moved on with my life, not as a victim but as a victor. I was free at last. What happened to me might not be as severe as rape, but believe me, trauma is trauma, and it is our greatest enemy. Our memories are what we need to fight. We can only do so by having a fresh vision for the future. There is a time to die yes, but there is a time to rise. But for you to rise, some times you need to choose the people who can support your vision, not those who are pulling you down. Choose your friends, choose your memories. You can’t move on when you are still hung up on the past. It is Time to choose your allies. It is time you choose your allies. Choose whom you want close to you in your walk of faith. Choose which thoughts you want. You are not dead, it is the past that is dead, don’t bring it back to life. Avoid those who try to tell you that there is no more hope for you. You are a new person now. The bible says for everyone who is in Christ is a new creature. You are fresh from the ground. Everything about you is new; the enemy is trying to tell you that you are old news. You need to know that people who pull you down are just afraid that you will leave them behind when you go up. So, don’t let their fear, or the way they see things cloud your faith in God. The time has come for you to leave them behind; it’s for the purposes of God. I wish all women could hear this Truth. I wish all women could learn how to choose what is best for them, not what is best for the people around them. Let’s see how Jesus makes it to the house of Jairus.

5. Time to shut out the noise

When you look at Matthew 9:23&24, you can see how long Jairus’ journey to a miracle has become. Every time he believes it’s about to happen, something else tries to block it. Just when he gets to the place where his miracle should take place, there’s something else that he has to deal with. Have you ever been stuck in a situation for a long time, and every time you are about to have a breakthrough something happens to stop it? Is it witchcraft? Let’s see.

“And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels the people making noise, He said unto them, Give place, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth…”

Jesus found people making a noise at the gate of the synagogue leader. He did not proceed to save the little girl. The miracle was postponed. He first had to deal with their noise. And Jairus had to wait for Jesus to deal with the noise. So whatever Jesus was dealing with, Jairus was also dealing with. Noise is one of the problems, and Jesus knew it. Today, noise is still a problem, and Jesus knows it. Every time God is ready to raise you up, there is folk making noise around you, while you sleep. In verse 24, Jesus tells the crowd not to play their instruments of death as the girl is not dead, but asleep. Many of us mistaken sleep for death. We immediately rush into thinking that you are dead while God thinks you are asleep. We don’t see what God sees when he looks at you. We see what we want to see. People want you dead, but God wants you awoke. They need to learn to see things from God’s point of view. We need to learn to see things from God’s point of view. Don’t rush to pronounce people dead on arrival. Don’t issue out the death certificate as yet. Don’t make noise, this girl is not dead, she is just sleeping, but she is sleeping in the midst of noisy folk. Have you ever tried to sleep and Ntate J Modise is playing music aloud at a party next door? You can’t sleep when there is noise around you. Rest won’t come, when you wake up, you will still feel like going to sleep, and the mourners will make noise again and declare you dead. Noise is indeed a problem in our society. Noise affects both men and women on their day-to-day lives. That’s why when men are having problems today, they decide that it’s over, but they don’t want to go alone, they want to take their wives and children with them. It’s there in the newspapers every week. It’s the noise that has invaded their heads. It’s the debts, the in-laws, the bosses, the neighbours, the morticians, the folks. It is the noise. Just when God is trying to work on you, noise! Just when you are trying to be happy, noise! Just when you have chosen the people you want around you, noise! Just when you start thinking positive thoughts, noise. It is noise day and night. And indeed, mind studies have revealed how noise affects our focus. We have what we call psychological noise in the fields of mental studies. Noise can disturb you from taking good advice from someone because you believe they are worthless. It doesn’t matter how much valuable their advice is, as long as it comes from them, you won’t take it. Who the hell does she think she is to give me advice? It is the noise in your head that is blocking you from seeing the value. You know, I always get advice about how to live my life and make my dreams come true. I hate it, but I listen. And it always helps me to listen. You won’t receive help from people when you believe certain things about them. You won’t let this pastor pray for you because you once saw him doing one, two, three and four. You won’t ask for help even though you know you need it. The noise stops the voice of reason to speak to you. The noise can stop you from recognising the voice of the Holy Spirit. The noise of sexual molestation as a child can block you from enjoying sexual intimacy as an adult. The noise can plunge you into a depression, into a coma; the noise can turn your sleep into death. But Jesus says, it is Time to shut out the noise. Time to shut out the noise. You need to chase away the noise-makers. Maybe you need to go back to your primary school days and write down the noise makers so that the teacher may deal with them when she comes back in. I want you to note this: There are always noise-makers standing between you and your miracle. Jesus says you are sleeping, but the noisy people say you are dead. The noisy people will go to the extant of quoting the bible, “there is a time to be born, and a time to die.” Okay, fine, but there is also a time to rise and come back to life. There is a life after the noise. All Jesus is saying is that don’t bury her, she is alive. But the noise-makers won’t leave you alone. And that’s why when Jesus went to raise Lazarus, he prayed to God, not because he doubted his own faith, but because he wanted to deal with the noise. He said Father, I pray, not that you have not heard me before this, but I pray for the sake of these people who are surrounding me. Jesus could not work with all the noise. He needed a peace of mind. He needed some space, that’s why he says, Give place. In the name of Jesus Christ, I address all your noise-makers, Give place. Your innocence is not gone forever, it is just asleep. Your dreams are not gone forever, they are just asleep. Your future is not doomed, it is just suspended. But give place. Be still and know that I am God. Observe a moment of silence. Chase away these noise-makers, chase them away; because she is not dead, she is just sleeping. Now why did Jesus shut out the noise? Why should you shut out the noise?

6. Time to see through people

Jesus demanded that the noise-makers be chased away because he could see through them. They were not mourners, they were hypocrites. Verse 24 says they laughed at Jesus when they heard him say the girl was asleep. That’s strange. A few seconds before, they are crying, mourning the death of Jairus’ daughter. A few seconds later, they are laughing at Jairus’ God. People cannot share in your pain but still be bold enough to laugh at your God. To mock your faith, no., hell no! Jesus knew that these people were not serious. They were hypocrites, pretending to be mourning with you, and then laughing as soon as they hear the word of God about your future. It is time to see through people. Time to see through people. You need to be careful because these people sound and look like they share in your pain, but deep down in their wicked hearts, they are rejoicing. They think they got you where they wanted you. They just wanted to see your face when you learn that your faith has failed. You need to see through them and chase them away. You can only chase them away when you are surrounded by people who share your belief, people like Peter, James and John, your allies. It is true that sometimes friends are just spies; the closest person to you could be the same person who sells you out. Your real friends will help you out. In Mark 5:38-40, you will see how much the people were crying. And in verse 40 you will see how much they were laughing. They were laughing their lungs out. To them the fact that God could turn the situation around was nothing but a joke. The noisy folk will always refuse to believe that God can wake the precious girl inside of you. They will always believe that you are broken beyond repair. But God has something in store for them. Yes, the young girl in you fell asleep some years ago due to reasons known by you and those who did what they did to you. Yes, some have even forgotten that they did something to make the girl in you fall asleep. Maybe your parents don’t even know what happened that sedated the cheerful girl in you. Maybe your friends don’t know what put out the warm flames of dreams that you had in high school. Maybe your pastor doesn’t know why you are losing interest in the church. Maybe you don’t know what happened to you too. But trust me, Jesus knows and he is dealing with it. That’s why he is telling these noisy hypocrites around you not to judge you. He’s telling your enemies to shut up and not make silly pronouncements about you. He is telling you to hold on. Don’t falter, hold on to his word little girl, don’t be afraid, only believe. Let’s see what happens as soon as the noise is shut and the noise-makers are chased away.

7. Time to speak the word

When you go back to Matthew 9:18, you will remember that the ruler asked Jesus to go to his home and lay his hand on the little girl because he believed that she shall live. Now notice what happens in Mark 5:41.

“And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha Cumi, which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.”

Young woman, I say today unto you, arise. Time to arise to a new life. Time to see yourself as God sees you, not as the world sees you. It is your time to claim that which is rightfully yours. You have been asleep for God knows how many years. But resurrection power has come upon you, for the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that same Spirit, shall vitalise your mortal bodies. Be vitalised. Be optimistic. Look to the future with a new pair of eyes: The eyes of faith. Today is your day, Talitha Cumi. What a powerful set of words, two words that can bring you back to life. It’s not an easy road but it is a possible road. That which is impossible with man is possible with God. Talitha Cumi. Young girl wake up. You need to dream again. You are the head and not the tail. You have to like it – God is calling you to a resurrection. You were just asleep, you were not dead. But now, but now, but now, you no longer need to sleep, young girl, I say to you, arise and shine. The world is waiting for your ideas. The world is waiting for your contribution to economic development. The world is waiting for your leadership. Rise to your new life and reign. However, I want you to notice that Jairus asked Christ to just lay his hand on her, but Christ knows that’s not really how it works. He can lay his hand on her, but he wants to do more. He lays his hand on the girl, but then speaks the word of God upon her life, Talitha Cumi. Imagine the girl, hearing the voice of Christ from far-away, in a strange land. It is only the word that can call her back. You see, God doesn’t just want to touch you, he wants you to hear his word and come to life. It is when we hear the word that we live. Jairus believed it would happen by the laying on of hands alone, but Jesus knew that man also needs the word of God to live. So when he spoke the word her, indeed the girl was no longer dead, but asleep. The bible says for those who hear his voice today, must repent. You are hearing the word of God, so don’t harden your heart like the Israelites in the wilderness. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word and the word by preaching. A word is being preached into your life right now. God has already dealt with the issues around your life that made you fall asleep. It is Time to speak the word. Time to speak the word. Speak it like God spoke it about you. He said be fruitful, multiple and have dominion. Be productive, make things happen. He is not waking you up so you can sit and watch the sun. He is raising you up for a purpose. For everything has its own season, its own time and its own purpose. You have been sleeping for too long. You have been suppressing your talents and gifts for ages. You have been depressed it’s enough. You have been living in fear and silence, and I say enough! Talitha, Cumi. Talitha, Cumi. Talitha, Cumi. Young, girl, wake up! Rise to a new life while sleeping in the midst of noisy folk. You don’t need to sleep no more. Those who were judging you are gone. It’s your time, use it now. It’s your moment of revelation, busk in it and find out what God has in store for you.

However, don’t forget to thank Jairus for being patient with God while you were asleep. You are rising because Jairus approached God on your behalf. Jairus can be anyone who has been praying that God raise you up. It can be your parent, relative, friend, teacher, pastor – you need to bless God for Jairus, for this is your miracle more than it is his. Before we conclude, let us read one more portion of scripture so that we don’t miss something important.

8. Time to support the newly restored

It is exciting when God gets you out of the pit and lifts you up from the mud to the king’s highway. It is worth celebrating when God blesses with a better job, a better house, a better marriage, a better relationship, a better family, a better life. Yes, it is excited, but before we get too excited, let’s look at the instruction that Jesus gives to Jairus and his wife.

Mark 5:42&43

“And straightaway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them that no man should know it, and commanded that something be given her to eat.”

How amazing what the word of God can do in our lives. Jesus told the girl to rise and she did it straightaway. Most of us don’t rise straightaway, we first wait for our friends to respond, or our neighbours, or the bishop of the church. If he doesn’t rise, then we won’t rise. Well, the bishop won’t rise because God did not tell him to rise; he only told you. God speaks to us individually. We can be gathered in one prayer meeting or conference, but you need to hear him when he speaks to you because at that time he is speaking to you alone, not to your friends. Rise up to a new life straightaway. But then Jesus warns the parents not to tell anyone about what happened to the little girl. Why did Jesus not want them to testify? Well, let’s look at Mark 5:18-21, just before Jairus appeared on the scene.

“And when he was come unto the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but said unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel”

Now notice the two different miracles. Is this a contradiction? Jesus tells a man to go home and tell his friends about his miracle. But then a few hours if not minutes, later, he tells a family not to tell any man about the miracle was Jesus confused? Why does God tell people to do different things, won’t this divide the church? Good questions, but the answer is no. Jesus knew what he was doing and what he was talking about. From the story of the young girl you can see that God wanted us to learn something about women, how they are perceived to be dead from a very young age. How the world sees them as worthless. How there is always so much noise around them, so many pretenders. But this girl is very young. The bible says she woke up straightaway and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. God is forbidding a testimony about a miracle that was experienced by a child. When you are still young in the Lord, you don’t just walk immediately. You don’t go about pitching tents and testifying to people. You are still young. You need to be given some food so you can eat and be strong, so you can grow in the Lord. If you start testifying to early, the devil may trap you. People may ask you difficult questions. The noise might come back and haunt you to permanent death. There are people who have experienced unquestionable miracles in their lives, but today have lost all faith, because they were not given food. They rose and walked, and went to the streets to preach faith. But Jesus is warning the parents. Jesus is warning the church leadership. Don’t let a girl who has just woken from sleep go about publishing about how God helped her. Let her study about God. What if she tells people who she was and they flood her with judgement? Will she handle it? You don’t just scream that you were selling your body yesterday and that Jesus has saved you. No, you need to grow up before you can say anything to anyone, otherwise you are opening yourself up to danger. Imagine an alcoholic who was saved from a near-death experience three months ago going around telling people that he is free from alcohol. Don’t let him say such things. Give him food. We have seen many people who believed that they were no longer alcoholics going back to the bottle after two years of abstinence. We need to be careful. Those who must testify must be mature enough. You get a job for the first time in your life and now you are pledging to give half your salary to the church every month. Don’t be in a rush, or you will end up hating God. You need to be rooted in the word that raised you so you don’t go back to where you were before. That’s why Paul says to the church of the Galatians in chapter 3, that having started with faith, now you want to end in the flesh? Some people grow too fast. I have more than 10 years studying the bible seriously. I have had my fair share of falling, and I can guarantee you that anyone can fall from grace. Anyone can give up on the faith. Even John the Baptist, who prophesied that Jesus was the Son of God ended up questioning his revelation when he was locked in prison. He said, Are you the one or do we look for another? You can read the Old Testament. It will show you that the most powerful prophets came to the point where they doubted God. So, imagine a twelve-year-old, somebody who is not even a teenager yet. Paul says he stayed away from other apostles for fourteen years while he was still in private training by Christ. He did not just start telling them about how great God had been to him. He waited for his time, when he was sure about what he was doing. You can’t tell people that God saved you from womanising five months. The reason you stopped is because something happened that shocked you, but shock does subside. You need to eat the word; it is like food to your flesh, according to the book of Proverbs. Just because you are up it doesn’t mean the challenges are over. He commanded them to give her something to eat. Her testimony is great, but she still has a long journey to go. Your testimony is great, but you still have a long way. He did not raise you so you can die tomorrow and go to heaven. He raised you in this season for a reason. He raised you at this time for a purpose. Start searching his heart, his will for your life. Don’t over-commit yourself too soon; take each step at a time. When you are ready, God will tell you. Jesus gave the man who was possessed by the legion publishing rights. If from being mad the man immediately remembered where home was and who his friends were, he was ready to be a publisher. It means he was mature. But we are not encouraged to rush into maturity because we grow from glory to glory, from baby steps to running. Time to rise to a new life, but don’t keep away from Jairus, he is the one who prayed for your miracle; let him give you some faith lessons. It is Time to support the newly restored. Time to support the newly restored. If we don’t support them, the devil will come back for them. We need to speak the word to them, admonish them and correct them wherever they err. They are still children. They are still growing. Just feed them, feed them until they are fit for the work of God. I know what I am talking about because I have seen many young preachers rushing into the gospel of prosperity before knowing about the realities of finances, and when they get hold of a few hundred thousand Rand, they go crazy; and how great the fall of them. It is my wish that you understand that faith is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It is a walk where others fear to walk. It is not by sight, but it is by the eyes of a trained spirit. Put children in the Sunday school, and let the adults do the teaching. We will stop right here. Watch out for Part 2, where we look at Jairus the man of God, not the father of a dying girl. For now, Thalitha Cumi, rise to a new life.