Luke 8:49-53 “While He was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler’s house came, saying to Jairus, ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.’ But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be made well.’ When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, John and James, and the father and mother of the girl. All wept and mourned for her. But He said, ‘Do not weep. She is not dead but sleeping.’ They laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.”
There is a saying…”What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” This is absolutely not true. What you don’t know, or think you do know, most definitely can hurt you. In this instance, what they “knew” was a fact in the natural. If anyone had examined her vitals signs, I’m sure she would’ve been confirmed dead with no pulse and no breathing. But what they could perceive in the natural was the end of their knowledge. Jesus however, “knew” something else. He said in verse 52 she’s only sleeping. What He knew was far greater than the knowledge of those that were weeping. What He knew would restore the life of that young girl. If Jesus and what He knew had not shown up, that girl would’ve died and not returned.
When you show up to a situation, what does your knowledge bring?
There is a lot of knowledge out there, a lot of people that are certain they know what is reality. Scientists study the earth and are certain they know how old it is and how it all began. And maybe their perspective is a “fact”. Like the people seeing the vital signs of this little girl, maybe what appears to be true is true in the natural. The problem is that their perception of reality is limited to the natural realm which is only one realm, and definitely not the most powerful realm. What many people don’t see is what’s in the spiritual realm. It’s in this realm the truth can be found. It’s in this realm that Jesus saw this girl was alive and what He perceived in the spiritual became what was true in the natural.
God created man and woman. He created animals and trees and plants. Did God create Adam as a baby? How old would Adam have looked on Day 6 when he was made? In the natural, maybe he would’ve appeared to be 30 years old. But because of the supernatural he was only a day old. What about the trees?
Genesis 1:29 "Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you.”
If God created trees fully grown with fruit with seed in them ready to release those seeds and reproduce more trees, how old might they have appeared? Yet in truth they were but days old. Scientists can study things all they want in the natural. But the ability in the spiritual, the truth of the supernatural of God, will always surpass that realm.
What we “know” matters greatly.
John 8:32 “And you will KNOW the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Before truth can set you free, you must know it. What you know (or don’t know) will either change your circumstances or leave them exactly as they are, which can in turn make them worse.
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”
A lack of knowledge was destroying God’s people then and in the same way this lack of knowledge, or ignorance, is destroying God’s people today. A lack of knowing God’s nature causes people to accept things that are not from Him as though they are His will. A lack of knowing God wants you well will leave people unsure if they can be healed or not. A lack of knowing God wants to bless you so you can be a blessing will leave people poor and broke without resources. A lack of knowing how much God loves a person will leave them searching for love and acceptance in the wrong ways. A lack of knowing that the Holy Spirit can bring you perfect comfort and peace will lead people looking for peace and comfort in food, drugs, alcohol, and all kinds of other things.
What do you base what you know off of? Is it based off of what you see, off of what a doctor says, or is it based off of what the Word says or what God has told you?
2 Corinthians 4:18 says the things which are seen are temporary, the same thing can be said of the things which are felt, but the things which are unseen are eternal. And these eternal unseen things can change the outcome of what is seen if we allow it.
What they saw was that the little girl was dead, no pulse no breathing, what was unseen is the power of God at work and this unseen power of God changed the final outcome. This unseen power of God made her alive.
So let’s say you want to base what you believe off of what is unseen, but you don’t know what’s unseen. You don’t know what God’s word says about a certain situation. How do you learn what you don’t know? How do I know if there’s something I don’t know?
Proverbs 24:6 “For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
Ephesians 4:11-13 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Acts 17:11 “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so.”
Proverbs 2:6 “For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
You sit under good teaching, you follow people that know more than you do seeking wise counsel, you find time to study the word and read about His promises, and in doing all that you ask God to reveal to you what you don’t know so you can stop being ignorant about it. Now, you can bring what you know into a situation and change the outcome.
Then once you know something you act differently than the ones who don’t know. Think about Noah, he was working on building an ark for 100 years with no evidence of rain in the natural. It had never rained before the way God said it was going to. All the people around him had to think he was crazy. But he knew what he knew and because of that he acted differently than the others.
Think about Peter in the garden with Jesus and his actions compared to Jesus’ when they came to arrest Him. Jesus was calm, knowing what was going to be done and that no matter how awful it seemed, or how awful it was, that He would be raised again and live. But Peter didn’t know, he didn’t get it. So he reacted differently to the situation feeling the need to protect Jesus he cut off a priests ear. Their actions were based on what they knew.
Luke 9:11 “When the crowds knew it, they followed Him. And He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.”
When the people knew where Jesus was, because they had been waiting for Him, they followed Him and listened to what He had to teach and received healing from Him if they had need. Because of what they knew about Jesus they sought Him out. Go where you can find truth, seek it out like precious treasures, so that you can know things that will set you free instead of things that keep you bound!