“God Has Not Forgot”

Introduction

Have you ever wanted God to do something for you? I mean really, REALLY wanted God to come through for you for something, so you prayed and prayed and asked God to do it, but it got to a point where it felt like God wasn’t answering your prayers? And after that point, we may find ourselves asking God what the hold up is and why he hasn’t been answering our prayers, but even after that, it still seems like God is just not hearing us. Sometimes, even for us as young christians, it can seem like God is just ignoring us. We’ve prayed and talked to him and he still hasn’t answered, and it can seem like God has forgotten about us, but I want to tell you that even when you can pray over and over again, and get no response, God has not forgotten about you. The Israelites felt that God had forgotten about them and abandoned them on many occasions, but God told Moses in Exodus 3:7 to tell the Israelites that he has seen them hurting and that he has heard their cries, so he has come to save them. In the same way, even when we feel like God does not see us or hear us when we call him, we can rest assured that even when it may not seem like it, God has not forgotten about us.

Text Context

In this text, Jesus is at the start of his ministry. He has just chosen his twelve disciples in Mark 3 and has started to teach them. In Mark 4, Jesus and his disciples are on a boat, and suddenly, a storm comes, and while the storm is “storming”, Jesus is sleep. So the disciples wake him up, and Jesus gets up and says “Peace be still!”, and the storm stops. After that Jesus and his disciples travel across the lake and get to a place called Gerasenes(Ger-uh-seens), which is said in Mark 5:1.

When Jesus gets out of the boat, a man who is demon-possessed, meets him. This man was demon-possessed, which means that there were unrighteousness spirits living inside on him. He was so out of his mind that every day and every night, he would just wander off out on hills and he would just scream and he would cut himself with stones. He was so demon-possesed, that he was very strong, and he was so strong that when people tried to tie him down with chains, he just broke them. This man is so out of his mind, that he has been separated from his family, from his community, and even from hisself.

But the Bible says that when he saw Jesus, he ran up to him and bowed before him. Now I just told you that this man was demon-possessed and he was out of his mind, but it was something about Jesus that made him bow before him, and in the same way, that should be us. There oughta be something about us: the way we talk, the way we walk, the way we move, that is shown to people and makes them approach us differently. When he comes to Jesus, the man bows before him and asks him why he is associating with him and begs him not to punish him. He said this because Jesus had already told the evil spirit to come out of him. Jesus asks for his name and the man says that his name is Legion, which means countless or lots. His name is Legion because he had many demons inside of him. To make a long story short, Jesus sends all of the demons inside of the man to 2,000 pigs, and the pigs ended running to the sea and drowning. A lot of people gathered to see what had happened and they saw the man sitting there with his clothes on and in his right mind. Those who had seen what happened told others about what happened, and as Jesus was getting in the boat to go on about his business, the man tried to go with him, but Jesus told him instead to go back to his family and tell him what happened.

But that is only the first part of Mark 5. The part that we are in today is where Jesus heals two women because of faith. After freeing the demon-possessed man, Jesus gets into the boat and goes to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him at the shore. When he gets out of the boat, a local Jewish leader named Jairus meets Jesus and tells him that his daughter is sick and is about to die and needs to be healed and asks him if he can come and heal her. Jesus went with Jairus and the crowd of people followed, but while they were on their way, there was a certain woman in the crowd who had a blood issue. This woman has been dealing with this issue for twelve years and this woman makes up in her mind that of she can just touch the edge of Jesus’ robe, then she would be healed, and so she does this, and when she does this, Jesus feels it and shouts out “Who touched my robe?” His disciples said to him that the whole crowd is pressing against him, which basically means that everybody is touching him, so how could he ask who touched his robe. But the woman was scared, so scared that she came to Jesus, fell on her knees and told him what she had done. Jesus then said to her“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” But while all this was happening, some messengers from Jairus’ house came to him and told him that his daughter was dead, and that there is no use bothering Jesus with this, but Jesus overheard them and said “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.” So Peter, James, and John walk with Jesus to Jairus’ home and when they got into his home, Jesus saw and heard so much noise. Everybody was crying and sad, and so Jesus says “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd ends up laughing at him, but Jesus makes them all leave, takes his disciples and the girl’s parents into the room she was in, holds the girl’s hand, and says “Little girl, get up.” And the girl stood up and walked around, and everybody who was around her were amazed at what just had happened. This chapter ends with Jesus telling them to not tell anybody about what happened.

Message

I wonder what all was going on through Jairus’s mind while Jesus was helping the woman with the blood issue. I bet he was stressed, worried, concerned, and even confused as to why Jesus had stopped in the first place. I would like to think that Jairus thought in this case that Jesus had forgotten about his and his situation, and I bet that that is how some of us feel even right now. Some of us may feel that God has forgotten about us because we’ve prayed and prayed for something, but God has not answered. Maybe we go to school and see others are good with their grades, they’re involved, they’re popular, basically everything is good with them, but then we’re looking at God and asking him why everything is good with that person and I’ve prayed and I’m still not ok. We’ve prayed and prayed, but others have gotten blessed and it seems like God has forgotten about us, but I want to tell you, that even though you may think it or feel it, God has not forgotten about you.

Body of Message

How? How has God not forgotten about me?? Let me tell you…

God walks with you.(vv. 21-24)

The text says that after Jesus got out of the boat, Jairus came to him, told him about his situation, and he walked with him. Jesus walked with him. We have to understand that God walks with us. God walks with us anywhere and everywhere. God walks with us at school, at home, anywhere and everywhere. But we have to ask: What does it mean that God walks with us? That means that even though we may not see him, or at times, feel him anywhere we are and anything we go through God is always there, walking with us.

EX: My first class of the day is in a building called “Magnet Hall” and I have to walk from that hall to the second floor of my school, and whenever I am walking, I see some of my friends and I catch up with them and walk with them, and wherever I’m walking with one of my friends, we talk with each other about our day and what we’re doing on the weekend, we laugh with each other, we listen to each other. See we may not understand it, but when we are walking with our friends, were comforting and even strengthening each other.

Walking with God is like that. Even though you may not see it, God is walking with you everywhere, listening to you and being with you. See, the Bible says that we walk by faith and not by sight, which means that when we’re walking, even though we may not see him or feel him, we oughta have faith that he is there. Can I tell you though that walking with God is not just an action, but it is a lifestyle. When the Bible speaks of "walking," it often refers to a lifestyle. My father once told me that life is about making choices. We have to choose to walk with God. We have to choose to walk with God. That means choosing to read his Word, choosing to meditate on his world, choosing to talk to him, because God will walk you, only if you choose to walk with him. Maybe some of us have started to walk in the world a little bit because others are doing it and it’s popular and it may make you look cool to other people, and I have to tell you that when you walk this way, you are not walking with God or in his ways or giving him glory. See, it is easy to walk in the ways of the world, but can I tell you that when you choose to walk with God, you are choosing to walk with someone who is greater than people and greater than the world. We have to choose to walk with God, and when you choose to walk with God, he will most-definitely walk with you. You won’t have a reason to be afraid, you won’t have a reason to be nervous or anxious, because you serve a God who you are not only walking with, but is walking with you. And when you think about it, even though you might not see it right now, the reason why we made it to this grade, to where we are right now, the reason why that class didn’t take us out is because God was walking with us. God walks with you.

God still wants us to believe.(vv. 35-39)

After Jesus heals this woman with the blood issue, some messengers come and tell Jairus that his daughter is dead. Imagine how Jairus felt at that moment. At this point, it seems like all hope is gone for Jairus. I would imagine that he was heart-broken. For a moment, Jairus probably thought that if only the crowd would’ve let Jesus through, if only that woman wouldn't've let Jesus in, his daughter would have been healed and alive. See, the thing is, Jairus did not know that Jesus had all of this under control. When Jesus overhears the messengers telling Jairus that his daughter was dead. Maybe the reason why we think God has forgotten about us is because some people have told us that it’s over. Maybe some people have told us to let it go, told us that it’s no use of praying, and maybe we have gotten discouraged because of this, but the good news is that when Jesus heard the messengers telling Jairus this, he said “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.” Jairus believed that it was over for his daughter, because the messengers had come and told him that, but Jesus tells him to have faith and to believe. Might I tell you that Jesus is saying the same thing to us. All we need to do is just have faith and believe. The text goes on to say when Jesus and three disciples entered into the house of Jairus, they saw the people crying and weeping and Jesus questioned them crying by asking them “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” Jesus questions them, not because it isn’t appropriate to cry in this case, but because them crying showed Jesus that they didn’t believe. Jesus coming to the house was supposed to be a cause of hope, but yet the people are here crying. We don’t need to cry, we don’t need to be upset or afraid, but all we need to do is have faith and believe. But with this, we ask why? Why should I not be afraid and keep believing: because you have evidence of God in your life. See, the text says that when Jairus met Jesus, he bowed down to him and asked him to help him, which tells us that Jairus knew about Jesus. He knew that he was a helper and a healer, and the same thing goes for us. We have evidence of God being what he needs to be for us.

EX: One day, I was riding in the car with my father and we we’re on the way home and he looked over to me and asked me the question: “Mike, I know you preached and told other young people about God, but what evidence do you have of God in your life?” I told him that when I feel lonely, God comforts me. When I feel down, he picks me up. When I am going through something and I don’t feel like talking to my parents, I can go to him and prayer and he will give me peace.

It does not matter how old you are, you have evidence of God in your life. We have evidence of God at school, at home, at church, in Sunday School, at practice, etc. That last grade didn’t take you out, that one class didn’t trip you up, that one person didn’t get to your head, that one obstacle didn’t stop you from moving forward, and that is because of God. We don’t have to be afraid, because we have evidence of God. Some of us might be afraid of this school year, we might be afraid of what’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen, even I am a little afraid because I’m not going to lie to y’all, 10th grade is hard, but you don’t have to be afraid, but you can instead just believe because you have evidence of God in your life, and when you have evidence, all you know you can do is not be afraid and just believe. God still wants us to believe.

God still comes through for us.(vv. 40-43)

At this point, Jairus is convinced that his daughter is dead. He has been told that she is dead and he is heartbroken, but see Jairus did not understand that Jesus was about to do something for him. My pastor said today at Mount Canaan that sometimes, God does stuff in strange ways. This was strange to Jairus. He didn’t understand that even though Jesus was healing, it was still the right time for Jesus. Jairus did not understand that the timing was perfect. Jairus had to trust in Jesus’ plan and trust that even though he had been told she was dead, God’s timing is still perfect. See, God promises to comes through for us, but at the same time, he needs us to trust in God’s timing. Trusting in God's timing means trusting that God has a plan for our lives that is better than our own, and that we should rely on him to carry it out at the right time. See, none of us like to wait. We want what we want when we want it. I bet that when Jairus came to Jesus with his situation and Jesus went with him, he was going to go straight to help him, and sometimes, we are like that. When we go to God in prayer about something, when we need him to do something, we expect it to be right then and there, but the truth is that we have to trust in God’s timing. When we don’t trust his timing, we can allow those things, like: fear, worry, confusion to overcome us and we may also miss out on lessons that God wants to teach them, but when we trust in God’s timing, we learn to trust that God has a plan for us and he will bring that plan into life, but all we have to do is trust in his timing. God may not do it for you when you want him too, but his timing is still perfect.

Jairus is down in the dumps, but what Jesus was about to do was come through for him like never before. What he does is he makes the crowd of crying people leave, he takes the child’s mother, father, and the disciples with him too her room, he says “Little girl, get up!”, and Jairus’ daughter is made alive. Now, you don’t understand. Jairus was convinced that his daughter was dead, but what Jesus just did was turn the tables. We serve a God who comes through for us, and one of the ways that God helps us is in fact by turning the tables. What does that mean?? Jairus had been told that his daughter was dead, and others were even crying, but Jesus changed the whole script. He turns the tables. And when you really think about it, that’s just a demonstration of God’s power. You may think that it is over, maybe because some people have told you it’s over. You may think that God has forgot about you, but when you trust his timing, God is no only doing to help you, but he’s going to turn the tables. And God turning the tables can be shocking for some, because the Bible says that when Jesus made the little girl alive, everybody was completely shocked, because they thought that the girl was dead, but Jesus turned the tables. You oughta look at all your adversity and all of the people that thought it was over for you and though that you were “cooked”, and say these words: YOU THOUGHT! They thought it was over, but it wasn’t. They thought you would stop believing, but you didn’t. They thought you were going to give up, but you wouldn’t, because God turned the tables. God still helps us.

Conclusion

Child of God, don’t think that God has forgotten about you. God has not forgotten about you. God still walks with you, and when you walk with him and walk in his ways, he will walk with you. God still wants you to believe, and we can believe because we have evidence of God in our lives. But then, God still comes through for us, and one of the ways that God comes through for us is by turning the tables, and since God does all of this, this is all proof that even though we may not like the timing, even though we still may have some questions, God has not forgotten about us!