“The Power to Raise Up,” Liahona, Mar. 2023.
The Miracles of Jesus
The Power to Raise Up
We can help lift those who are awaiting the Savior’s deliverance.
Defeated. Again. I slumped against my chair with my head hung low. I was just an observer, but still I had no energy to stand. Our team had tried so hard. Some were bruised. Some were limping off the field. After our high school soccer team’s consecutive losses, we weren’t just beaten—our hearts were broken.
Just as my disappointment seemed to overcome me, one of the youngest girls on the team strode past. I was drawn instantly to the sense of purpose I saw in her face.
I watched as every few steps she reached out a hand to each girl, but not in acknowledgment of defeat. Instead, she was giving individualized praise, comfort, and compassion. “I’ve never seen you run so hard to get there for every pass. That was your best game.” And to another, “Wow, amazing game. Seriously, you were on it today!”
With each high five, her one hand lingered in theirs, while her other hand held on to a shoulder or gently patted a leg bruised and grass-stained. I could feel that she carried something within her, a power that somehow transferred from her to the heart of each team member. Smiles started to break through the painful winces and disappointment. Slowly, one by one, each player stood with a new feeling vibrating through the air.
Who cared about the bruises and pain? Who cared about the anger and frustration? Not one. But how could a mere hand lift someone from a place of suffering to a place of purpose and strength?
Allow me to share some things I have learned about the Savior’s power to lift and how we can help, like my friend on the soccer team.
In the New Testament, we read the following account about the daughter of Jairus.
“And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw [Jesus], he fell at his feet,
“And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
“And Jesus went with him” (Mark 5:22–24).
“And Jesus went with him”
I love the line “Jesus went with him” (Mark 5:24). The miracle hadn’t happened yet. In fact, there would be some tragic delays before the family received the deliverance for which they were pleading. But Christ was already on the journey with them.
When we need that which we cannot do for ourselves, we can trust that Jesus is coming. And we can trust that as we wait in faith for His miracles in our lives or the lives of our loved ones, He will walk with us. He will walk with us all the way through the anxiety and fear and sadness that may await us on the road leading to deliverance.
“Come and lay thy hands on her”
Healing is not ours to offer, but like Jairus, we can bring Jesus Christ, the Master Healer, to those we love. Jairus knew that the Savior’s hands could lift someone from a place of suffering to a place of purpose and strength.
I saw that in our light-giving soccer player. She was sharing the light of Christ on a soccer field and allowing Him to perform His healing. By holding up His light, she was helping to gather Israel.
Each of us will need saving by someone other than ourselves. However vulnerable that may seem to leave us, we can trust that Heavenly Father provided a Savior who can help raise us from despair. And we can participate with Him, just as my soccer hero did.
But what if things only get worse while you’re waiting for His blessings to come?
“Why troublest thou the Master any further?”
While Christ was making His way to Jairus’s house, He was delayed. The streets were crowded, and as He tried to make His way through, a woman of great faith, who had also waited for His healing hand, touched His clothes.
“For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
“And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague” (Mark 5:28–29).
How frantic was Jairus? How frustrated with the delay? When he left his house, his daughter was already at the point of death. Then, as the Savior sought out the woman who was healed and spoke with her, someone from Jairus’s house arrived with the bad news: “Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?” (Mark 5:35).
What a blessing for the woman who had waited so long! But what a tragedy for Jairus and his family, who didn’t have time at all to wait! Sometimes when we are in the wait, it can be hard to maintain hope that He is coming. But for Jairus and his family, it now seemed too late to hope for the miracle they had needed. His daughter was dead. Why trouble the Master any further?
Why? Because the limits we sometimes put on the Savior’s miracles mean nothing. He is not bound by our deadlines, nor is His power restricted by our understanding of what is possible.
If we will look with eyes of faith as we wait, we will see assurances that His deliverance is coming (see Alma 58:11). These assurances can change our hearts and confirm our faith in Him. Even if it seems like the opportunity has passed, He is still coming; your moment will be.
The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter, by Gabriel Max / Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo
“Be not afraid, only believe”
As soon as the Savior heard the bad news, He told Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36). The Savior’s words to Jairus show how anxious He is to assure us in the wait. His ministry does not pause, even when we do. He immediately urged Jairus onward in faith.
“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. …
“And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise” (Mark 5:39, 41).
Did you catch that? “He took the damsel by the hand.” There is power in His hands. President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) once said, “Whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives.”1 What can we do to better receive His healing hand? And how can we be His hands to help lift others in their time of heartache and desperation?
“And straightway the damsel arose, and walked”
Immediately life returned to Jairus’s daughter: “And straightway the damsel arose, and walked” (Mark 5:42). Mortality will bring beds that we must rise from. For each of us, those beds will look a little different—from discouragement after a loss on the field to the loss of a loved one. Suffering will inevitably come. But He will never abandon us, no matter how dire or final the circumstances may seem. Sometimes, He allows us to walk through dead or desolate places so that He can reach forth His hands and fill them with life.
With the sign of His Atonement—the print of a nail in each hand—He shows us we are His ministry: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (1 Nephi 21:16). Christ’s ministry was, is, and always will be to raise us up from a death we cannot escape physically or spiritually, and it is all made possible through His atoning sacrifice.
When such heartaches and challenges occur, we can picture the hands that bear a mark in each palm bringing not just kindness and love but power to overcome. By exercising faith in Him, complete restoration by the Redeemer of the world will prevail over whatever we face.
And we can be the extension of His hands to others who need His touch.
I testify that each of us will be raised from our own infirmities and ultimately the grave. Remember, even if all feels lost, He is there and reaches out His hands of saving power. Imagine the joy that will come as He extends His hand to yours and declares, “I say unto thee, arise.” And arise we shall.