All of You

While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.”

When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the little girl’s father and mother.  The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said,“Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died.  Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!” And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.  Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened.  Luke 8:50-56

We all desire to do our best.  My father use to tell me if you are going to do something, do it well.  My mother would work me on detail tirelessly to make sure I did everything to her satisfaction, and trust me when I say that was never easy.  I did not want to do that as a young impressionable child.  However, they instilled in me this determination to go the extra mile and do what was necessary to ensure things were not just done but done well.  This left me with the thought of serving God when you really don’t want to.  We serve Him willingly.  We love Him, and sing His praise in church and beyond.  However, one has to ask the question which none of us really likes to answer; do we really serve Him with all our heart when we don’t agree?  Do we give Him our 100% when it gets difficult or when God asks us to do something uncomfortable do we hedge our bet?  I know that I fail this sometimes, but when I trust Him, I find something rather amazing.  He always gives me something where I grow in faith and learn more about His plan for me.

Learning to give your all to God takes practice.  It is not a given.  Many of us find ourselves where we believe in God and all He has done for us.  However, we are often challenged to where we cannot see the possibility even as God has given us the vision that it would happen.  Let’s look at this story of Jesus bringing the little girl back to life.  This one resonated with me because of all of the naysayers.  “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now,” and, “the crowd laughed at Him because they all knew she had died.”  How often have we heard these words in our lives?  Of course they do not sound like that verbatim, but how about, “No use putting forth any more effort into pursing that dream!”  How about when you share what God wants you to do, someone answers, “That’s funny!”   We should remember who we serve, and to see God’s work in our lives, we must first be willing to give our all to Him.  That means not 70 or 80%.  All of us must be given for His will to be done.

God wants all of us.  One of my favorite songs has a chorus that goes:

And He says love me, love me with your whole heart
He wants it all today
Serve me, serve me with your life now
He wants it all today
Bow down, let go of your idols
He wants it all today.

There is so much to be gained from our giving ourselves utterly and completely to God.  To achieve it, we must tune out the voices that say it is not possible, and then trust in Him.  What part of your life are you holding back from God?  How can you display a greater trust in God when things don’t seem to be going your way?  My prayer is that each of you is able to give God all of you.  Amen.