Try to imagine what Jairus was feeling when the woman with a hemorrhage stopped Jesus. He finally had some hope about is dying daughter when Jesus agreed to come but time was running out and this woman, (who had been sick for twelve years already so she could wait another day!), prevented Jesus from coming to help his little girl. Then when the news came that his daughter had died he must have been beyond despair. And angry too, I’d bet. The story illustrates that, like all human beings, people want what people want. Jairus wanted his daughter to be well, the woman wanted a cure, Absolom wanted to usurp the throne, David wanted his son back. Jesus embodies that the spiritual life begins when we seek not what we want but what God wants. Having as our one desire and choice always and only what God wants frees us, as it freed Jesus, to meet every person with compassion and treat every situation with faith, not fear.
