He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. – Matthew 9:24

What’s dead in your life today?

Jesus walked into the house of a man whose daughter had just died. This is what He found.

When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder,  – Matthew 9:23

The pipers piped, the mourners mourned, the weepers wept.

Yet Jesus’ words were not about the problem. He didn’t stand in line to hug the mourning mother or listen to the 500^th retelling of that tragic morning when, after weeks of fighting disease, or months of steady decline, or suddenly for no apparent reason, they found their daughter had stopped breathing.

He didn’t sit down in front of the casket and weep.

He didn’t look at a memorial of the girl’s life.

He stepped in and changed the atmosphere.

And not just by walking in.

Sometimes that works. A man or woman full of the Spirit of God can walk into a room and just their presence changed the room. But this time, Jesus had to physically change the atmosphere.

It’s not unlike after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He drove off the money changers and then healed the sick. Jesus was not afraid to change the environment, to drive off the things that undermine faith.

He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. – Matthew 9:24-25

As I read this, the Lord put marriages in my heart, though the truth is relevant for other circumstances too.

Is your marriage dead or in need of healing?

You need to begin to speak life into it.

You need to drive off any trappings of death.

You need to shut down any outside voices speaking death your marriage. I don’t care if it’s your mother or father, your best friend or oldest confidant. If they are throwing fuel on the funeral pier of your relationship they are not helping.

I was at a wedding once where the minister address all the congregation on both sides of the aisle.

You who stand here today to witness this wedding, are entering into covenant to stand behind this union. As God makes these two–one, you must commit to supporting that one.. When one of these two come to you complaining about their spouse, you remind them of love, you speak life to the one new flesh. When you stand with one against the other you “tear asunder” that which “God has joined together.”

Begin to speak out loud those things that are not as though they were.

Then, when the sound of death has been stilled, take that which seems dead by the hand.

Life will return.

True for other dead things too.

Thanks for coming by.

Have a blessed day.

Ben