“For she said,’If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.'”(Mark 5:28)
Wow! This woman exemplified such great faith. Verse 27 tells us that this woman “heard the reports about Jesus”; she heard of His healing power and she believed.
“But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.”(Mark 5:33)
Somehow, Jesus knew that power went out from Him and He was asking around, “who touched me?”. This woman was afraid to approach Jesus and tell Him what she did. When I read this, a striking thought came to my mind: she knew the power of Jesus, but did not know His character.
This woman heard the reports, she was studied up on Jesus. However, she was so focused on her physical ailment that all she cared to know about Jesus was His healing power. She totally missed His heart. She missed the whole reason Jesus was on earth, to save us from our sins.
This passage seems almost opposite of the lives most Christians live. People often accept God’s character, salvation and endless grace while missing out on His power and authority over all.
For me, this made me think of my prayer life. I find myself bringing big requests to God, but I chose not to invite Him into the “small” issues (quotations because nothing God does is small).
I guess the ultimate takeaway from this is that we shouldn’t just go to God for help with the things we think are impossible without Him. The woman who was bleeding for twelve years could not heal her body by herself, she NEEDED God to heal her. She didn’t know the love, grace and forgiveness that is found through Jesus.
We are so small and powerless in comparison to God, yet we still like to think that we can handle things on our own. We only open up to God when it’s really necessary. Why?!? We will never be able to live this life in a way that honors God if we try to do it with our own strength. We will always fail. We serve such a great and powerful God, I don’t understand why we try to live our lives as if that isn’t true. When we invited Him into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, it wasn’t just a one time ordeal. We still need to recognize our need for Him.
Just ask. Invite Him into your day. Tell Him about your struggles and ask for help and guidance. Seek His wisdom, understanding and perspective. Seek His character and heart.
