Day 5

“I had dealt with my problem for so many years. I was pointed to and stared at in my village. I felt ashamed and unclean. Always unclean. No one wanted me around. I was cast aside from society; lonely, I cried myself to sleep each night. I never thought that I would be healed of my personal, woman issues. It was not a topic that most people wanted to talk about. I was desperate, running from doctor to doctor, hoping to find a cure. Then, Jesus walked through my village. I pushed my way through the crowd, but they pushed back. Finally, on my hands and knees, I crawled through the crowd, reached out my hand, and touched the hem of His robe. An electric shock pulsed through my body, from my head to my toes. I stood up, knowing something was different. The men around Him glared at me, but Jesus, with his warm, kind eyes took my hands in His and said that I was healed. Tears of joy rolled down my cheeks. All of those years of pain erased with just one touch of His healing power. 

Bible Passage:

In the crowd that day was a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years from slow bleeding. Even though she had spent all that she had on healers, she was still suffering. Pressing in through the crowd, she came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel of his prayer shawl. Instantly her bleeding stopped and she was healed.

Jesus suddenly stopped and said to his disciples, “Someone touched me. Who is it?”

While they all denied it, Peter pointed out, “Master, everyone is touching you, trying to  get close to you. The crowds are so thick[e] we can’t walk through all these people without being jostled.”

Jesus replied, “Yes, but I felt power surge through me. Someone touched me to be healed, and they received their healing.”

When the woman realized she couldn’t hide any longer, she came and fell trembling at Jesus’ feet. Before the entire crowd she declared, “I was desperate to touch you, Jesus, for I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your robe[f] I would be healed.”

Jesus responded, “Beloved daughter, your faith in me has released your healing. You may go with my peace.”

Luke 8:43-48 The Passion Translation TPT

Observation:

It’s hard to imagine what this woman was going through. All we know of her is that she had a bleeding problem for a number of years. Some translations say up to twelve. It was such an intense struggle that it drove her to push through the crowds of people, and do something unconventional. She reached out and touched the hem of Jesus’s robe. She didn’t even have his hands touch her. Her faith in Him gave her body the complete healing that it needed. 

Facing tough news or challenges with our health or the health of someone we love is never easy. Sometimes, these seasons can have a way of feeling like they will go on forever. We can begin to doubt that Jesus is our healer. Through his blood shed on the cross, we no longer have to be a slave to the fear of sickness. Our faith rises as we reach out to Him, and trust the outcome, knowing He is always within our reach. 

Prayer:

Dear Jesus - 

Give me faith like the woman who pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of your garment. Even though life's struggles press against me, grow my faith to reach out to you as my healer and to continue to hope no matter how grave things look.