I’ve been thinking a lot about the Biblical account when the paths of Jesus and a hemorrhaging woman cross (Mark 5.21-34). For twelve years the woman suffered in two ways: physical pain and the pain of being an outcast of society, thanks to the religious leaders of the day. Twelve years. Can you imagine? Not twelve minutes. Not twelve hours. Not twelve weeks or twelve months… she had suffered for twelve years! She was broken. She was desperate. She was needy.
She heard about some man who was healing others. “There’s hope!” she thought (after twelve years, she probably thought this man was her ONLY hope.) So she made her way into the crowd which was crowding in on Jesus on all sides. She thought (and this is key), “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Are you kidding me? Touch is clothes?! What sort of nonsense is that? Sounds like a prayer cloth sold by a TV evangelist to support the ministry. She has no desire for relationship with Jesus. In her desperation all she wanted was to touch his clothes. Interesting...in her desperation.
You read the story before. She touches Jesus clothes. Jesus feels power release from him. He wants to know who touched him. His disciples laughed at him saying, “Everyone is crowding against you.”
But then Jesus’ eyes and the eyes of the newly-healed woman lock onto each other. Jesus then says something so incredibly profound I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. He said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Her faith healed her. Wow!
Here are two observations from this passage and why I feel it is so vital to our serving strong:
First: Out of all the people crowding in on Jesus at that moment, this woman was the only one healed. It's because everyone else was curious. She was committed. Everyone else was looking for a photo-op. She was looking for freedom. Everyone else wanted a new thing. She wanted a new life. Her desperation was the key to her intimate moment with Christ.
How desperate are you, really? How long has it been since you felt so needy you dismissed conventional wisdom and "pressed in against the crowd to simply touch Jesus’ clothes"? How long have you been relying on strategy or visioning or marketing or programs that you’ve lost what it means to be utterly dependent on God?
In order to continue serving strong, I firmly believe we must maintain a perpetual brokenness before the feet of Jesus. He is our ONLY source of strength. Without this posture of desperation, we will (not might, but will) hit the wall. It’s just a matter of time.
Second: Jesus said to her, “…your faith has healed you.” Isn’t it amazing He didn’t say, “I healed you because of your faith”? Jesus doesn’t take the credit for the healing. He relinquishes the credit to her faith. Some kind of faith, huh? The kind of faith that takes center stage. The kind of faith that literally interrupts Jesus day.
What kind of faith do you have? Is it big? Does it border on the absurd? When was the last time you woke up excited that no matter what the day was going to throw at you God was bigger and able to do amazing things? When did you last look at someone so lost in their sin yet still possess audacious faith that they were entirely reachable? How’s your hope for your future?
In order to continue serving strong, I firmly believe we must possess an unshakable faith in God. We must look at our current circumstance with such a belief in Him that we march right through as though the victory has already been won (actually, it has. Jesus said in John 16.33, “…take heart. I have overcome the world”.)
Be desperate and carry a big faith. It’s all part of Serving Strong!
Recent Comments