
20/06/2025
WRESTLING WITH GOD'S PERPLEXITY
One of the stories I love in scripture is that of Jairus, a desperate father and spiritual leader. He falls at Jesus’ feet, begging for his dying daughter’s life. Jesus agrees. Hope flickers for a moment, but then Jesus stops. A bleeding woman touches His robe, and He pauses - calling her forward, speaking life to her. And in that agonizing delay, a moment of waiting for Jesus to attend to His dying daughter, Jairus hears the words that shatter a parent’s soul, “Your daughter is dead.” Can you feel it? The crushing weight? The silent scream, I imagine Jairus telling Jesus, “Why heal a stranger while my child slips away? Where were You?”
Then there’s Hosea. God commands him, “Go, marry a prostitute.” So Hosea weds Gomer. He loves her fiercely. They build a home, have children... and then, she walks away. She sells herself to other men. But God speaks to Hosea, “Go. Buy her back.” I can imagine Hosea’s anguish. The humiliation. The sacred ache as he pays silver and barley to redeem the wife who abandoned him.
In the account of Jairus, Jesus' timing felt like divine cruelty. Yet in the ruins of hope, Jesus turns to Jairus, His voice piercing the despair, “Do not fear; only believe.” Puzzling words from Jesus. Almost impossible to bare. Then Jesus enters the house of mourning, takes the cold hand of death itself, and resurrects the little girl. What seemed like abandonment was infact divine theater. Jesus allowed death so He could shatter it. Blessed is the soul who, when God’s timing feels like betrayal, whispers through the tears, “Only believe, it shall be well.” The miracle after the funeral is always sweeter. When God delays your answer, only believe for it shall be well with you. When His ways shatter your understanding, He is preparing a glory too vast your current vision.
Hosea’s account, to me, isn’t just a love story. It’s a wound laid bare. God uses Hosea’s agony to mirror His own broken heart, “My people have committed adultery against Me.” Hosea’s obedience is a raw altar - a life shattered to showcase a faithfulness deeper than betrayal. Blessed is the one who, when God’s call cuts like a knife, still obeys - knowing their pain is etching Heaven’s relentless love. Sometimes your brokenness is God’s chosen canvas. When He asks you to love what wounds you, to stay true and trust Him when your partner or spouse decides to walk away, to trust when the grave seems final, to honor Him when family is torn apart - love and obey Him anyway. Pray for God's grace to whisper to self, “Even amidst this pain and anguish, I choose to trust You Lord.”
Like Jairus staring at death, like Hosea buying back his wife, like John the Baptist in a prison cell - we all face moments when God’s script seems senseless and very cruel. Those moments when silence screams louder than His promises. But hear this; God’s most painful pauses are not abandonment. They are sacred incubators. Places where fear meets faith, where human understanding dies so resurrection can breathe.
When God pens a story you wouldn’t choose - dare to believe and trust Him still. The final page holds a resurrection beyond your imagination. Grace in this sense is the presence of God in the ruins. When His ways shatter you, believe in Him through those tense moments. He holds your breaking heart, and He holds your glorious end. Only believe.