Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Mark 5 is a powerful chapter filled with stories of desperation, deliverance, and deep faith. We see Jesus restore a man who was possessed by demons, heal a woman who had been suffering for twelve years, and raise a little girl back to life. Each story may look different, but they all point to the same truth: when people encounter Jesus, everything changes. (Hold on to that thought!)

Just look at the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She had tried everything. Doctors couldn’t help her. She had spent all the money she had and only grew worse. Somehow, she still found faith to believe that if she could just touch His clothes, she would be healed. 

She didn’t shout. 

She didn’t demand. 

She simply reached out in faith. 

And immediately, she was healed. 

But Jesus didn’t just heal her body; He stopped to acknowledge her. In a crowded place where everyone was pressing in, Jesus noticed one touch of faith. He called her “daughter” and told her that her faith had made her well.

Then there is the story of the man possessed by an army of demons. He cries out to Jesus with that same desperation, begging Him to take it all away. Jesus did. It was astonishing, just as astonishing as this healing of the woman who had been ill for over a decade. They both had lost hope and were at the absolute end of their rope, waiting for a miracle. Jesus delivered just that. Something that only He could do.  

I believe that the majority of us reading this have had at least one moment like this in our lives. You know, the kind where you are falling on your face, begging Jesus: to save, to heal, to meet you where you are. It seems so easy to come to Jesus in those times, doesn’t it? When we feel as if we’ve lost all hope or control? And, by His goodness, He meets us. It may look a bit different than what we expected (I mean, I’m sure that man didn’t expect to see a herd of demon-possessed swine run to their deaths), and it may be on a timeline we didn’t really ask for, but He will meet us without fail.  

I ask you, friend, what about the day-to-day? Those “little things” that seem so insignificant. Big-impact moments with Jesus don’t have to be delivered in miraculous ways. They also happen in the mundane.

They show up when we are willing to look for them and welcome them, despite feeling as if we have control of the situation - when we think we’ve “got it,” but we would rather give it to Jesus.  

You see, deep faith and deliverance can happen in the way that you talk to your kids, even when they are being a bit too noisy and wrecking the house. They happen in the connection that you make as you greet that new guy who just showed up at church with his family. The one that doesn’t seem that easy to talk to. They happen when the workday has felt heavy, and now it’s time to come home to your family, who are going to need more than what little bit you feel you have left to give. They also happen in the quiet of the morning, before the world wakes up, when you give Him the first of your day before you give it to everyone else. 

I am so thankful for all those moments when the Lord met me and changed me, even when I buried my face on the floor and didn’t have the will to stand. But I’ve learned to have the same appreciation for those quiet moments, too. Maybe they didn’t hit me like a truck and seemingly change me all at once like those big moments did, but they have changed me over time and are shaping me into who He wants me to be.  

Because let’s not forget, when people encounter Jesus (in the big moments and the small), everything changes.

Take two minutes to reflect in silence.