How Do You Not Share?

This weekend at church we are finishing up our series of "Growing As Disciples" with "Witness", the idea of sharing what God has done in your life.

It was funny, just the other day I read the story of Jarius' daughter (it's in Luke 8) where Jesus raises the girl from the dead. There was a little part I had heard and read so many times but didn't put it together.

In the story, the girl dies while Jesus and company are en route to her. When Jesus arrives he tells the mourners in the house not to cry, she's just sleeping. Then Jesus takes only Peter, James, John, Jarius and Jarius' wife into the room with the dead daughter. He raises her from the dead, but then says this:

Luke 8:56 ~ The girl’s parents were amazed, but Jesus told them not to tell anyone what had happened. (NCV)

How do you keep that a secret? How do you not tell people that your daughter is now alive? How do you manage to keep this on the down low with people in the other room mourning? Say thanks and ask them to leave? Do they ask the girl to never leave the house so people don't know she's alive?

So many questions. The funny part is as I type this I think about how I'm asking how on earth you can be silent about what God has done for you in this situation, yet so many people who Jesus didn't tell to be silent about what He's done in their lives, they have no problem at all keeping it quiet.

T