When Distress Drives You to the Feet of Jesus

Introduction

The turn of the new year always raises the same question: what needs to change in you for this year to be different? On this New Year's Eve at Meistad Church in Cergy, the preacher didn't talk about resolutions. He talked about a man who, one day, let distress drive him to the feet of Jesus.

That man's name is Jairus. He is a synagogue leader, respected, influential, connected to the religious and political authorities of his time. And yet Scripture says he falls at Jesus's feet, "begging him earnestly" (Mark 5:23), because his daughter is dying. That gesture changes everything: his priorities, his public image, his relationship with Christ.

The message is clear for your new year: the hardship you're going through, the distress squeezing your heart, the enemies surrounding you, God can use all of it as a springboard to launch you into the dimension he has prepared for you.

Article Outline

1. The Lord's blessing doesn't just do you good, it equips you

Many Christians understand blessing only as "speaking well of someone so that good comes to them." That's true. But Proverbs 10:22 goes further: "The blessing of the Lord makes rich."

To enrich, in this verse, also means to equip. The Lord's blessing gives you equipment to succeed, strength to accomplish satisfying things, a robe of glory. It makes you spiritually strong.

And here the preacher dares to say something hard: this blessing that equips you is enriched through adversity. Without the trial, without the distress, without the difficult season you went through, you might not be sitting in this church today. Some temptation would have swept you away. Your spiritual life wouldn't have been strengthened. Your knowledge of the Lord would have stayed shallow.

2. God changes your outlook before he changes your situation

In Acts 10, Peter walks into Cornelius's house for the first time, a Gentile. His fellow Jews criticize him for it. His answer is striking: "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner... but God has shown me."

Three words to remember: but God. Peter is telling his brothers: my different outlook doesn't come from me. It isn't the fruit of my own thinking, nor the result of my own reasoning. It's God who brought about a shift, and that shift now dictates my behavior.

Beloved, that shift is exactly what you need for this new year. Let God change your eyes before he even changes your situation. As Elisha asked for his servant: "Lord, open his eyes" (2 Kings 6:17). A new lens, new glasses, so that you no longer take a stand out of fear, but a stand shaped by what God himself has made you understand.

3. Adversity is often the sign of an open door

In 1 Corinthians 16:9, Paul writes: "I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries."

There's good news and bad news stuck together right there. If Paul had focused on the adversaries, he would have left Ephesus. He focused on the open door, and he stayed. He understood that the presence of adversaries is the sign that a great door is open.

It's the same principle as in Numbers 13: the presence of the sons of Anak in the land is confirmation that it truly is a land flowing with milk and honey. Caleb understood it: "God has given them to us as bread." As for you, focus on the milk and honey. Let him handle the giants.

Don't run from your "Ephesus" just because adversity is fierce there. Stay put until the Spirit shows up. The Phillips translation renders it: "I have found here a great opportunity for effective work, though there are many who set themselves against me."

4. Your enemies can be instruments in God's hand

God places kind, nourishing people around you. But sometimes he also places hostile people, and he uses them too.

Joseph tells his brothers, after years of slavery and injustice: "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (Genesis 50:20). And where is Joseph standing when he says this? In the palace.

The same is true of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. Without the mockery and contempt of Peninnah, her rival, Hannah would never have known what she truly needed. Her husband Elkanah tells her she's worth "more to him than ten sons." It's a sincere love, but Elkanah's love didn't replace what God wanted to give her. It took Peninnah for Hannah to rise up and cry out to the Lord. After Peninnah, Hannah's worship changed dimension: she no longer praises the God her ears had heard of, she praises the God her eyes have seen. And her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:2 still feeds our songs of praise today: "There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God."

5. Distress reorders your priorities and drives you to the feet of Jesus

Back to Mark 5. Jairus is a synagogue leader. His reputation, his status, his religious career, all of it depends on what the Pharisees think. John 12:42 says that even among the leaders, many believed in Jesus but wouldn't confess it for fear of being thrown out of the synagogue.

Jairus, though, falls at Jesus's feet in public. In plain words, he's saying: "You can throw me out of the synagogue, I don't care, as long as he touches my daughter." Distress had reordered all his priorities.

For your new year, the question isn't "which problems will I avoid?" The question is: will I let my distress push me to the feet of Jesus, rather than let it paralyze me? There's a distress that shuts you down, and there's a distress that changes a life.

Key Takeaways

• The Lord's blessing equips you as much as it fills you, Proverbs 10:22 speaks of an enrichment that shapes you, often right in the middle of adversity.
• God changes your outlook before he changes your situation, like Peter in Acts 10, your behavior follows the shift God brings about in how you see.
• Adversity is the sign of an open door, Paul stays in Ephesus despite many adversaries, because the wide open door matters more than the obstacles.
• Your enemies can serve God's plan, Joseph and Hannah both experienced it; what was meant against them was turned into good.
• Let distress drive you to the feet of Jesus, like Jairus, choose to bow down publicly rather than protect your image.

Personal Application

• Which trial from the past year, despite the pain, actually strengthened your knowledge of the Lord? Have you taken time to thank him for it?
• Where is God trying to shift your outlook right now? Toward whom, in what situation, in what relationship?
• Is there an "Ephesus" you're tempted to flee this new year, even though the door there is wide open?
• What adversaries do you have around you? Can you, like Joseph, consider that God might use them to lift you up?
• Is there a distress you're carrying alone, without yet laying it down publicly at the feet of Jesus? What's holding you back: your reputation, your position, your fear of what others think?

Scripture References

• Mark 5:22-23 · Read
• Proverbs 10:22 · Read
• Acts 10:28 · Read
• 1 Corinthians 16:9 · Read
• Genesis 50:20 · Read
• 1 Samuel 1:1-2:2 · Read
• John 12:32, 42 · Read
• 2 Kings 6:17 · Read

FAQ

Does this message say that God sends evil to test us?

No. Scripture is clear that God is not the author of evil (James 1:13). What the preacher points out is what Joseph sums up in Genesis 50:20: what people or circumstances mean for your harm, God can turn into good to accomplish his purposes. Adversity isn't the cause of the blessing, but it can become the setting for it.

How do I know whether I should "stay in Ephesus" or change my situation?

Paul's criterion isn't the absence of adversity, it's the presence of a door God has opened. Take time in prayer to discern: is God opening up a wide field of work here, despite the obstacles, or is he clearly redirecting me elsewhere? Seek counsel from your spiritual leaders before any major decision.

What can I concretely do at the start of the year when the distress is still there?

Follow Jairus's example: lay your distress down publicly at the feet of Jesus. That means praying with brothers and sisters, asking for the laying on of hands, no longer carrying alone what Christ wants to carry with you. Also follow Hannah's example: keep worshiping, even through tears. That's often where a new song is born.