How many instances in your life can you recall when you felt defeated, alone, and rejected? In the dark hours of your soul, the only thing you can do is to reach out to Jesus. You wouldn’t be the first to be healed by His gentle hands nor the last.
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
The Bible is overflowing with stories of ordinary women with extraordinary problems. After they tried everything and failed, their last hope was divine intervention. When they tested God, their lives were forever changed.
Mark 5:25-34
“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Consider the woman mentioned here. The Scriptures don’t mention her name, only that she’d been sick with an issue of blood for twelve years. She had spent every coin on doctors who could do nothing for her.
We can only surmise what her illness was. Since the “issue” of blood means flowing, it could have been that she battled menstrual problems. Hers was so bad that she hadn’t stopped hemorrhaging for over a decade.
The scripture is also silent about whether she was married, had a family, or was wealthy. She must have had some financial means to afford to pay for years of ineffective medical treatment. At this point, this woman with an extraordinary problem was about to meet a wonderful God.
Being an Outcast
One of the strangest behaviors of human nature is that people often hurt those who are already hurting. Have you ever been in a situation when certain friends and family members made it worse? Instead of offering encouragement and assistance, they are distant and judgmental.
Such was the case for the sick woman in the fifth chapter of Mark. According to Mosaic law, any woman with an issue of blood was unclean. She couldn’t touch anything or be around anyone, just as if she were a leper.
No doubt, she felt entirely alone in her pain and despair. When she had enough energy to go to the market, she had to distance herself from everyone. The smirks and rude whispered remarks toward her didn’t go unnoticed.
She couldn’t be around her family and friends and could do nothing but wait to die. Her loss of blood probably kept her chronically weak and malnourished. Then, she overheard that Jesus was coming to the area.
Believing Within Yourself
When the day of the Lord’s visitation had arrived, this woman knew He was her last chance. The Bible says in Matthew 9:20 that she “said within herself” that if she could only touch the hem of His garment, she’d be healed. Her illness was significant, but her faith was even more remarkable.
Do you have problems in your life that are crushing your spirit? Your faith is built by what you believe in your heart to be true. You’ll soon see how this woman’s faith gave her the victory.
Pushing Your Way
The road to Jesus is filled with naysayers and people who want to push you away. It was the same situation with this poor, sick woman. As she bravely went her way toward Jesus, the crowd may have kicked and cursed her.
Yet, her faith and desperate situation drove her to keep moving. No doubt, she was crawling at some point and was cruelly stomped and pushed away. It was all she could do to move her weak and hemorrhaging body to the Master’s feet.
When All You Can Do is Reach
Jesus was standing amid the sprawling crowd teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. At last, the woman was close enough to Him to make her move. With every ounce of strength left in her near lifeless being, she grasped out her fingers and touched the hem of His garment.
The second that her fingers brushed against the tassels of the robe; the bleeding instantly stopped. His loving grace and healing power overcame her. It was the first instance in the Bible where someone touched the Lord before He could touch them.
At that moment, the Lord stopped speaking and began looking around Him. “Who touched Me?” He asked in Matthew 9:21. The disciples didn’t know whether to laugh or shake their heads with disbelief. They reminded Jesus that there were many people surrounding Him, and it was impossible to know who touched Him.
However, this wasn’t just an ordinary tap or an accidental bump into Him. Jesus declared that someone had touched Him with a need because He felt virtue leaving His body. Although He knew precisely what had happened, He wanted to allow the woman to share about her healing.
Trembling with awe and fear, she fell at the feet of the Master and told him everything. Jesus, filled with compassion, smiled at her and said that her faith had made her well and to go in peace in Matthew 9:22.
Think of the testimony she had when she returned home. She didn’t have to stay away from her loved ones. Now, she could toss the fortune worth of useless medicines and bandages. She had enough faith to get the healing she needed.
The Syrophoenician Woman
Another example of faith is recorded in Matthew 15. A Syrophoenician woman had a daughter who was sick and dying. She had heard of all the miracles that Jesus performed, and she sought His help.
In those days, Jews were to have nothing to do with Gentiles. So as the woman followed the Lord and His disciples down the road, they ignored her. She begged and pleaded with the broken heart of a mother.
Finally, the disciples got frustrated and asked the Lord to shoo her away, as if she were a bug. She fell at Jesus’ feet and cried for Him to heal her daughter. However, Jesus didn’t say a word and continued to walk.
Of course, He had every intention of helping her. He just wanted to test her faith in the middle of adversity. Jesus looked at the pitiful mother and told her that He had only come to the lost house of Israel.
Yet, she never ceased to follow and worship Him. Finally, Jesus told her that it wasn’t right for Him to give the children’s bread to dogs. Not only had Jesus ignored her, but He called her a dog, a common insult to gentiles in those days.
Most people would have left in anger at those heated words. Again, Jesus wanted to see how much this woman wished her prayers answered. However, she agreed with what He said and didn’t act the least offended.
She retorted that even the dogs got to eat of the crumbs that would fall from His table. She knew that she was an unworthy gentile, but she was willing to accept what she could get. When He heard the woman, Jesus was amazed and spoke again to her.
He commended her great faith and told her to return home to her healed daughter. It was an outstanding example of faith He wanted the disciples to see. This loving mother wasn’t going anywhere without her miracle.
Even to this day, this story of faith and determination remains a memorial to her. She knew that unwavering faith and worship would get the Master’s attention. It will also be the key to getting your miracle.
Prayer for Today
Dear Lord Jesus, I come before You as an unworthy servant. Thank you for dying on the Cross, making me your child. Help me to remember that You told me to come boldly to Your Throne, and You would meet my needs. Amen.