So Close
“Daughter,” He said to her, “Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Jesus spoke these words to a certain woman who had been rejected, taken advantage of and overlooked by society. She was a woman who had bled for twelve years straight and considered to be unclean. She had spent all of her money on physicians to cure her condition with no avail. Yet, this is the only place in scripture that we witness Jesus personally addressing someone as “daughter”.
Mark 5:24-26 says,
“Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around Him.
25A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.
26She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse.”
27“She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.
28For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
What’s so inspiring about this woman to me is that despite being abandoned and rejected by others, despite her embarrassing, twelve year condition, despite being disappointed time and time again after years of doctor’s appointments, hearing the words, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do -besides take your money.” In spite of that, she did not allow those unbearable circumstances to taint her view of Who Jesus was.
This just amazes me! How could a woman who had endured TWELVE YEARS of suffering, rejection and disappointment; possess this type of faith? I don’t know about you but ONE MONTH of suffering is tough! Still, her faith wasn’t passive. It was an intentional faith. She pursued Jesus and didn’t even know Him personally. Scripture says that she had only heard about Him. Yet, she was still desperate for Him. I personally believe that the woman got so tried of trying every humanly logic resolution, in her own power, that she determined to instead try Jesus!
We ought to look at this woman’s heart posture and be inspired by her faith and her character!
How many times have we encountered unfortunate circumstances but instead of pressing into Jesus, we distanced ourselves? How many times have we had this attitude of self entitlement towards God, as if He HAS to bless OUR plans? How many times have we allowed a person - maybe a family member or somebody’s nappy headed son, to taint our perspective of God?
Sis, I say this in the most loving way… We HAVE to do better! We are not God. We don’t get to tell Him what to do. We don’t get to decide that we’ve suffered long enough. Not when this woman endured every single type of suffering -mental, emotional, physical AND financial suffering. Nonetheless, she STILL had the audacity to seek the God she’d only heard about. She was well aware of the risk of being killed because remember, she was considered an unclean woman. Therefor, she had no business being around the crowd of people and furthermore, the Messiah. Yet, even the risk of death did not stop her.
Not only was her faith bold, but her character was moral. Verse 30-33 says,
“Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
31His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
32But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.
33Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.”
34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
I love that she didn’t possess this justified attitude that most people would’ve had. Sometimes we get a little too big for our britches and believe that because we’ve suffered, we deserve this or that. Or because we’re going through a lot, we have permission to speak and act contrary to selflessness and love. Oh let’s not forget the notion that because we went to church, prayed and did all of the religions things, our outcome needs to result in a certain way -OUR way. Thank God for repentance! Lol
Trust me, I know that certain circumstances completely suck and I am not here to downplay it. Nor am I insinuating that we should pretend we are fine in order to avoid offending God. I have tried that and It’s not what He wants. I am however saying that we can be vulnerable with God about our circumstances -in a humble, yet honest way. I have definitely had to go to God and say “Lord, I am really disappointed that you have the power to heal my pain, yet You won’t take it away when I call out to You.” Not from a place of entitlement but from a place of humble honesty. Did He immediately take away my pain? No. But He did grace me with the strength to suffer well or “endure” until He decided to remove the suffering.
Nowhere in these scriptures do we see Ms. Ma’am approaching her situation in a prideful manner. Her act of faith in the midst of suffering, was so humble that we should aspire to operate like this woman, daily. The way that she unashamedly pursued Jesus no matter who was around inspires me to not be silent about Him. Sis, we cannot worry about who will be offended by Jesus. We cannot be concerned with who will recognize us from our past, not so cute reputation. This woman whose reputation was completed tarnished didn’t. And because of it, she was healed. Notice, Jesus didn’t say “My power has healed you.” He says that HER FAITH had healed her. Imagine the bondage she would’ve been stuck in if she’d allowed the opinions & actions of others to dictate her faith. What’s more is the faithful, loving character of Jesus. Anyone else in that crowd would’ve been mortified had they been touched by an unclean woman. Not Jesus though. He did not even condemn her. But He healed her in a very personal, affectionate way; calling her daughter.
34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
Let’s not overlook the fact that Jesus not only healed her physically, but MENTALLY too! Think about a time when you were rejected by ONE person and how it made you feel. Now imagine being rejected by an entire society, your friends and family. Imagine being in debt because every physician took your money and provided no cure. Imagine being treated like a disease and the constant danger of being killed just because of your presence around others. I am sure sis endured major mental trauma. But our all-knowing Jesus knew that already.
I just loveeee how He always gives us what we need plus more when we truly seek Him! He provided the woman HEALING, PEACE AND IDENTITY!! She was no longer the woman with the issue of blood. When she found Jesus, she became His daughter who had recieved “life and life abundantly”. There is so much freedom in the life with Christ and though this walk can be a difficult one, we can be encouraged that the God who holds all power is walking with us through it. As the elders say, He may not come in our timing but He comes in His perfect timing. And as we choose to trust Him; we’ll grow in character, faith and spiritual tenacity!
Sister, imaging all the areas of our lives that Jesus longs to heal, bring true peace and affirm our identity. If only we’d press in to Him. This requires the surrender of our own plans. It requires loyalty to God over people. It requires intentional time seeking Him for who He is; not just a passive task. It requires reading His word to better know HIM, not to gain information. It requires transparent prayer and authentic worship. It requires the tenacious faith that this brave woman displayed. May we decide today, to follow her example and therefor attain a life of healing, peace and true identity!
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, thank you for displaying Your love through Your Son, Jesus. At times, it’s hard to comprehend when there is so much going on around us. But forgive us Lord, for the times we’ve allowed circumstances and disappointment to taint our perspective of You. Even in our suffering, You’re good. O God, tear down every emotional wall that we’ve built between You & ourselves. Destroy any and everything that keeps us from pressing into You. Today, we choose to believe that like the woman with the issue of blood, we are Your daughters. Our past, failures, sin and shame do not make us any less of Your daughters. For this we are grateful because when we really examine our lives, we don’t deserve a thing. BUT still, You long long to provide peace and healing anyway. You desire friendship with us so show us how we can press in. We release the fear of people. We reject every lie that has been spoken over us -even the lies spoke BY us. We accept Your truth concerning us. Help us to be desperate for You. Give us clean, humble hearts. Help us be gracious with ourselves and others as we take this thing day by day. We anticipate the freedom, love and power that comes from walking with You. We declare healing, peace and true identity over ourselves, NOW! IT IS SO. Thank You, Jesus!
In Your powerful name, Amen.
