Crisis as Catalyst: Transforming Desperation into Faith

Summary

Today’s focus is on how crisis can become a catalyst for transformation when it drives us to Jesus. Everyone faces crisis—no one wants it, but it’s inevitable. The real question is not whether we’ll encounter hardship, but what we do with it. Crisis has a way of clarifying what matters most, stripping away distractions and pride, and revealing our deep need for God’s presence and power. When we allow our desperation to move us toward Jesus, rather than away from Him, we open ourselves to His healing, redemption, and companionship.

We explored the stories of Jairus and the bleeding woman in Mark 5—two people in desperate situations who push through social, personal, and spiritual barriers to reach Jesus. Jairus, a respected synagogue leader, risks his reputation and pride to plead for his daughter’s life. The bleeding woman, isolated and unclean for twelve years, braves the crowd to touch Jesus’ garment, believing in His power to heal. Both harness the energy of their crisis to seek Jesus, and both experience His compassion and transformative power.

Jesus’ response to crisis is not just to fix problems, but to offer His presence—His “withness.” He doesn’t require us to jump through hoops or prove ourselves worthy. He simply goes with us, bringing grace, peace, and comfort, even when the outcome isn’t what we hoped for. Jesus understands our limitations and vulnerabilities; He embraced the full human experience, including not knowing, so He could truly sympathize with us.

The invitation is to bring our mess, our brokenness, and our pain to Jesus, giving Him full authority over our lives. He calls us to leave behind dead things—regrets, shame, bitterness, fear, pride—and rise into new life. This is not just for us, but for our children and the next generation. We are encouraged to pray boldly for our kids, to imagine them passionately following Jesus, and to trust that God can do remarkable things through them, no matter their age or our past.

Key Takeaways

- Crisis Clarifies and Compels
Crisis has a unique way of revealing what truly matters, stripping away the nonessential, and compelling us to act. It can either drive us to numb ourselves or to seek God with greater urgency. The challenge is to not waste our crisis, but to let it propel us toward the One who redeems and transforms even the messiest situations. [03:07]

- Pride and Resistance Are Barriers to Healing
Jairus and the bleeding woman both had to overcome significant internal and external resistance—pride, fear of what others might think, and social stigma. True transformation often requires us to lay down our pride and risk vulnerability, bringing our needs openly to Jesus. The willingness to be desperate before God is often the doorway to healing and freedom. [09:57]

- Jesus Offers Presence, Not Just Solutions
Jesus’ promise is not that every problem will be solved, but that He will be with us in every circumstance. His “withness” is the greatest gift—He brings peace, comfort, and grace, even when the outcome is uncertain or slow in coming. The assurance of His presence sustains us through the darkest valleys and the longest waits. [13:21]

- Faith Is the Bridge Between Desperation and Transformation
Both Jairus and the woman acted on what they believed to be true about Jesus, pushing through fear and doubt. Faith is not the absence of fear, but the courage to move toward Jesus in the midst of it. When we trust Him with our crisis, even with trembling faith, He meets us with compassion and power, calling us beloved and inviting us into deeper relationship. [20:45]

- Rising Means Leaving Dead Things Behind
Jesus calls each of us—no matter our age or history—to leave behind what is dead: regrets, shame, bitterness, fear, and old patterns. Rising into new life requires letting go of what holds us back and embracing the identity and purpose God speaks over us. This is a call not just for ourselves, but for our children and the next generation, to imagine and pray for lives fully awakened to God’s love and mission. [26:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:00] - Father’s Day Blessing and Acknowledgment
[02:30] - Introduction to the “Forever Changed” Series
[03:07] - The Clarifying Power of Crisis
[04:38] - Crisis: Opportunity or Obstacle?
[07:09] - Jairus: Pushing Through Pride and Resistance
[09:03] - Bringing Brokenness to Jesus
[09:57] - Barriers to Seeking Help
[13:21] - The Promise of Jesus’ Presence
[14:35] - The Bleeding Woman’s Desperate Faith
[17:40] - Jesus Embraces Human Limitation
[18:54] - Healing, Restoration, and Relationship
[20:45] - Jesus Wants Relationship, Not Just Results
[22:13] - Fear, Faith, and the Power to Rise
[24:31] - Leaving Dead Things Behind
[26:32] - Praying for the Next Generation
[30:21] - Closing Prayer and Blessing

Study Guide

Small Group Bible Study Guide: Don’t Waste Your Crisis

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### Bible Reading

Mark 5:21-43
(Jairus and the bleeding woman)

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### Observation Questions

1. What risks did Jairus take by coming to Jesus, and what might he have been afraid of? ([07:09])
2. How did the bleeding woman’s situation make her an outsider in her community? What did she do to reach Jesus? ([14:35])
3. What is the significance of the phrase, “So Jesus went with him,” after Jairus asked for help? ([13:21])
4. When Jesus says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering,” what does this reveal about his response to her faith? ([18:54])

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### Interpretation Questions

1. Why do you think crisis has the power to clarify what matters most in our lives? How did this play out for Jairus and the bleeding woman? ([03:07])
2. The sermon says pride and fear can keep us from bringing our needs to Jesus. Why is it so hard to let go of pride or fear, even when we’re desperate? ([09:57])
3. Jesus doesn’t promise to fix every problem, but he promises his presence (“withness”). Why might his presence be more important than a quick solution? ([13:21])
4. Both Jairus and the woman acted on what they believed about Jesus, even though they were afraid. What does this teach us about the relationship between faith and fear? ([20:45])

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### Application Questions

1. Think about a recent or current crisis in your life. Did it drive you toward God, or did you find yourself pulling away? What would it look like to let your desperation move you toward Jesus instead? ([04:38])
2. Are there any “dead things” (regrets, shame, bitterness, fear, pride, old patterns) you sense Jesus is inviting you to leave behind so you can rise into new life? What’s one step you could take this week to let go? ([24:31])
3. The sermon talked about how pride or fear of what others think can keep us from seeking help or prayer. Is there an area where you’ve been holding back from bringing your mess to Jesus or asking others for prayer? What’s stopping you? ([09:57])
4. Jesus’ “withness” means he is present with us, even when things don’t turn out the way we hope. Can you share a time when you experienced God’s presence in a hard season, even if the outcome wasn’t what you wanted? ([13:21])
5. The bleeding woman and Jairus both had to push through barriers—social, personal, spiritual—to reach Jesus. What barriers do you face in coming to Jesus with your needs? How can you push through them? ([14:35])
6. The sermon encouraged parents and grandparents to pray boldly for their kids and imagine them passionately following Jesus. What is one specific prayer you can pray for the next generation in your family or church this week? ([26:32])
7. If faith is the bridge between desperation and transformation, what is one area where you need to take a step of faith, even if you feel afraid or uncertain? ([20:45])

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Close in prayer, inviting Jesus into any crisis, mess, or “dead things” that need his healing and presence.

Devotional

Day 1: Don’t Waste Your Crisis—Let It Drive You to Jesus
A crisis is never something we want, but it is something we all experience. The difference is in how we respond: will we let the pain, desperation, or brokenness push us away from God, or will we allow it to drive us to the One who has all power, all authority, and all compassion? When we bring our mess, our pain, and our need to Jesus, He meets us with grace and the possibility of redemption. Don’t let pride, fear, or what others might think keep you from running to Jesus with your crisis—He is ready to meet you right where you are and bring beauty out of brokenness. [04:38]

Mark 5:21-24 (ESV)
And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

Reflection: Is there a crisis or area of brokenness in your life that you’ve been trying to handle on your own? What would it look like to bring it honestly and boldly to Jesus today, regardless of your pride or what others might think?


Day 2: Jesus Promises His Presence—Withness in Every Situation
Jesus never promises to solve every problem or fix every pain exactly as we hope, but He does promise His presence—His “withness”—in every circumstance. When Jairus came to Jesus in desperation, Mark simply writes, “So Jesus went with him.” There were no hoops to jump through, no conditions to meet. Jesus’ heart is full of compassion, and He steps into our mess, bringing grace, comfort, and peace. Even when the outcome isn’t what we want, His presence is the gift that sustains us and brings hope in the hardest moments. [13:21]

Mark 5:24 (ESV)
And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him.

Reflection: Where in your life do you most need to remember that Jesus is with you, even if the situation doesn’t change? How can you open your heart to experience His presence and comfort today?


Day 3: Faith Pushes Through Resistance—Boldly Reaching for Jesus
Both Jairus and the bleeding woman faced obstacles—external resistance from the crowd, internal resistance from pride, shame, or fear. Yet, they harnessed the energy of their crisis to push through and reach for Jesus, believing He could heal and restore. The woman’s faith, though small and desperate, was enough to move her to action, and Jesus honored it by calling her “daughter” and making her whole. When we act on what we believe is true about Jesus, even in weakness, He meets us with power and love. [18:54]

Mark 5:25-34 (ESV)
And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

Reflection: What is one area where you’ve let fear, shame, or pride keep you from reaching out to Jesus or asking others for prayer? What bold step can you take today to push through that resistance and seek Him?


Day 4: Leave Dead Things Behind—Rise to New Life
When Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter, He took her by the hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.” This is not just a miracle for one family, but a call to all of us: leave behind the dead things—regrets, shame, bitterness, fear, old sins—and rise to the new life Jesus offers. He draws near with compassion, inviting us to let go of what holds us back and step into freedom, purpose, and belovedness as children of God. Will you hear His voice today, calling you to rise? [26:32]

Mark 5:38-42 (ESV)
They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha koumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

Reflection: What “dead things” (old regrets, shame, bitterness, or sin) do you need to leave behind today in order to rise into the new life Jesus is calling you to? What would it look like to let go and step forward?


Day 5: Jesus Gets Us—He Embraces Our Humanity and Walks With Us
Jesus is not distant or detached from our struggles; He fully entered into the human experience, embracing our limitations, our not-knowing, our vulnerability. He is the great High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses and shows us what it means to live by the Spirit, trusting the Father step by step. Because He “gets us,” we can come to Him with every need, knowing He understands and cares deeply. His invitation is not just to receive His gifts, but to know Him, to walk with Him, and to be changed by His love. [17:40]

Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Reflection: In what area of your life do you most need to remember that Jesus understands your struggles and limitations? How can you draw near to Him today, trusting that He truly “gets you” and wants to walk with you?

Quotes

Here's the good news. Jesus can heal. Jesus can heal. Jesus can heal broken hearts, broken minds, broken spirits. Jesus can heal broken marriages. Jesus can heal broken families. Jesus can heal broken extended families. Jesus can heal broken neighborhoods, broken workplaces. Jesus can even sometimes heal broken bodies. Jesus has the power to heal. [00:08:27] (00:00:24 seconds) Edit Clip

The promise is not, Jesus never promises to solve every problem, fix every problem. What Jesus promises is withness. So Jesus went with him. What Jesus promises is withness. He brings his grace, his mercy, his presence, wherever he goes. He is with you no matter what you're up against, no matter what you're struggling with, no matter what kind of problem you have. So Jesus went with him. [00:13:32] (00:00:27 seconds) Edit Clip

If you will surrender to him and open your life to him, open your heart to him, open your mess to him, he steps in and brings beautiful things out of it, even if it doesn't always end the way that you hope or want it to. He is with us. So Jesus goes with. [00:14:53] (00:00:18 seconds) Edit Clip

Jesus doesn't want to just give you his stuff. Jesus doesn't want to just give you his stuff. He doesn't just want to give you peace. He wants to be your peace. He doesn't want to just give you a gift. He wants to be the gift. Jesus isn't just kind of giving you stuff. Like, and listen, feel free to ask Jesus for all the stuff you want, but he wants to give you a gift of grace, and if you want to say he wants to us, he wants to give you what I'm very aware of. Is he what we said to be a gift today? Is he an economist? He wants to say he and he??? Like, he doesn't just want to give you stuff. He actually wants to give you a relationship. Daughter, son, you're beloved. Daughter, son, child, you're beloved. My grace is sufficient for you. Your little bit of faith and all my power is sufficient to release beauty and redemption and hope and healing and transformation to give you courage and strength. You need to know that you're beloved. [00:20:42] (00:00:37 seconds) Edit Clip

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, don't be afraid, just believe. Don't be afraid because fear makes you waste a crisis. Don't be afraid because belief is what's driving the whole bus of all kinds of good happening around Jesus today. Belief, like people doing crazy things like the woman who's got healed. Your faith has healed you. Your belief has driven you to me. It's worked. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's changing you. Jairus, don't be afraid because if you had surrendered to fear, you wouldn't have come in the first place. But because you believed what was true about me, a whole lot of good is about ready to happen. Don't be afraid because fear makes you waste a crisis. [00:22:17] (00:00:37 seconds) Edit Clip

He took her by the hand and said to her Talitha Koum, which means little girl, I say to you, get up. And immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around. She was 12 years old. My friends, brothers and sisters, visitors, guests, whether you had a good early father growing up or not, you've got a perfect father in heaven who has sent his son and he gets really close to you. He takes you by the hand. He says to you, little girl, little...boy, time to wake up. Time to rise. You're beloved. You are delighted in. Hey, whether you're a teenager or you're 115, doesn't matter if you're young or you're old, he says to you, little boy, little girl, time to rise. Take you by the hand, a compassionate hand, a loving hand. He draws really near to you in love and compassion. He reaches out to you. He says, I love you. I created you. Whether you are a teenager, 115, he says to you, little boy, little girl, time to get up, time to get up, time to get up, time to rise. He says, leave dead things behind and rise. Leave death behind and rise. Don't hang on to anything that's death. Come and rise, come and rise, come and rise. [00:24:17] (00:01:13 seconds) Edit Clip

That means we've got to leave some old things behind. That means we should leave. Some of you like rehearse regrets and mistakes from the past and shame and guilt and voices of condemnation. Jesus says, I see that dead stuff. I know the mistakes you made in the past. I love you anyway. I forgive all that. The voices of shame and condemnation are not the voice of Jesus. They're not the voice of the Good Shepherd. They're not the voice of God. They're the voice of your flesh, the voice of the accuser. He says, I want you to leave behind dead old things and rise. [00:25:30] (00:00:28 seconds) Edit Clip

Leave behind worry and anxiety and fear. That's just death to you. That's dead stuff. Come and rise. Leave behind your pride, your ambition. Chasing after all the wrong things, people's approval, applause, money, career, reputation. Leave all that behind. That's just death to you. Come and rise. Leave old sins. Leave behind your gossip and your manipulation and the ways you sort of work the crowd, the ways that you sort of do things that are undermining you and the people around you. Leave behind those old dead things and rise. Jesus says to you today, for the first time, for the hundred and first time, for the millionth of time. first time he takes you by the hand and says little boy little girl I'm here for you I love you you are here on purpose for a purpose leave behind old dead things and rise time to get up and rise will you hear his voice will you hear his voice calling out to you today leave behind dead things and rise. [00:26:08] (00:01:03 seconds) Edit Clip