Never Too Late / 永不太迟

[Dexu Xia]

Never Too Late

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:36

During the anxious moments that followed my mother-in-law’s heart attack, she was fortunate to receive immediate medical care. Later, her doctor told me that treatment within fifteen minutes of a heart attack results in a survival rate of 33 percent for critical patients. But just 5 percent survive if treated beyond that time frame.

On the way to heal Jairus’s desperately ill daughter (someone definitely needing immediate medical care), Jesus did the unthinkable: He paused (Mark 5:30). He stopped to identify who touched Him, and then spoke gently with the woman. You can imagine what Jairus was thinking: There’s no time for this, my daughter is dying! And then, his worst fears came true—Jesus appeared to have delayed too long and his daughter passed away (v. 35).

But Jesus turned to Jairus and offered a word of encouragement: “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (v. 36). Then, calmly ignoring the mockery of onlookers, Christ spoke to Jairus’s daughter and she came back to life! He revealed that He can never be too late. Time can’t limit what He’s able to do and when He chooses to do it.

How often do we feel like Jairus, thinking that God was simply too late to accomplish what we had hoped for. But with God, there’s no such thing. He’s never too late in fulfilling His good and merciful work in our lives.

永不太迟

耶稣听见所说的话，就对管会堂的说：“不要怕，只要信！”-马可福音5章36节

我岳母突然心脏病发作，大家都焦虑不安，幸好她及时得到救治。过后她的主治医师告诉我，心脏病突发的病人需要马上救治，若在15分钟内接受治疗，存活率可达33%；但是如果超过15分钟才就医，存活率就只剩5%了。

睚鲁的女儿病入膏肓，需要紧急救治。但耶稣在前往睚鲁的家途中，竟停了下来（马可福音5章30节），探究是谁摸了祂的衣裳。过后，祂还温和地安慰那患血漏症的女人。当时睚鲁焦急的心情可想而知，相信他心里会想：耶稣啊，没有时间管这件事了，我的女儿就快死了！过后，睚鲁最担忧的事果真发生了，耶稣似乎耽延太久，他的女儿已病故身亡（35节）。

然而，这时耶稣安慰睚鲁说：“不要怕，只要信！”（36节）接着，耶稣不理会众人的嘲讽，平静地吩咐睚鲁的女儿起来，她就活了！耶稣证实了一点，对祂来说永远不会太迟，时间不可能限制和影响祂大能的作为。

我们是否也常和睚鲁一样，认为上帝耽延过久，以致无法成就我们的想望？但对上帝来说永远不会太迟，祂要在我们的生命中成就祂美好且满有恩慈的计划，祂永不太迟！

主啊，求祢帮助我谨记，
时间也在祢掌管之中，即使我们觉得太迟了，
祢仍然可以成就祢完美的计划。

你最近如何经历到上帝按祂的时间行事？
完全信靠上帝的权柄和计划，为何至关重要？