Do Not Be Afraid; Only Believe

 BYTES~  Do Not Be Afraid; Only Believe. ~Jesus

Mark 5:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the Synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”

Flower, Mark 5:36, Do not be afraid; only believe

“Do Not Be Afraid; Only Believe,” are profound words to live by straight from the Master’s lips to our hearts. 'Heard’ in the Greek is ‘parakousas’ which comes from the word ‘¹parakouo.’ Para means beside or near, and akouo means to overhear, hear amiss or imperfectly. Parakouo thus tells us that Jesus was standing quite close to the ruler of the Synagogue and overheard when the messengers informed him his daughter was dead; why trouble the Teacher any further?

Bad news always impacts us deeply. It hits like a bullet train in the solar plexus. When bad news or sad news comes, we cannot help but react to it. The ruler of the Synagogue did when they told him his daughter had just died. Fear hit the rulers heart as only news of death can. He immediately lost all hope that Jesus could turn his situation around from death to life. I’m sure you can relate.

We may not have an exact personal account of the rulers’ hearts condition in that moment but we do have Jesus’ response to the words He overheard. Jesus did something so profound that we must not neglect to sit up, pay attention to and then incorporate it into our lives. Jesus immediately counteracts the words, the logos of the messengers, the bad news, in other words, with His Words of faith: Do not be afraid; only believe.

Logos means word or spoken words. As we know, words are extremely powerful tools of change, for good or for evil; for success or for failure. Words can make us, or break us. Words can influence us for either good or bad. Our world was framed with words: And God said. (Genesis 1). The messengers spoke what they knew and what they had seen. Jesus spoke what He believed. And He believed the man should not fear, but rather that he should only believe God could turn his situation around for good.

That is how Holy Spirit is, too. When He sees us spiraling downward into depression, fear of death, insecurity and uncertainty, He speaks a logos word to our hearts, either in-person, in our hearts, or through one of His agents of change, His servants. If we heed the Word from our God to help us in our time of need, then that logos word will become rhema, or revelation knowledge, for us to live by..

When life and its many trials and sorrows come, listen out for Jesus. His voice will be the one telling you, Do not be afraid; only believe. Then act on His Word and not on the words of people or of your circumstances. In Jesus lies the victory. Counteract all words of despondency and hopelessness with words of faith and belief in God.

¹Definitions from The New Strong’s Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, © 1995, 1996 by Thomas Nelson Publishers.





Meaghan Spies © 2022

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