"Your Faith Has Made You Well"
I've been slowly working my way through the Bible Recap. Earlier this summer, I decided to switch to the New Testament, 'cause we all need more of Jesus in our lives!
The Bible Recap is chronological, instead of just reading through an entire book of the Bible, it jumps around. The Gospels often share the same stories, but through different lenses. This week I read about the woman who had been bleeding continuously for 12 years. She was unclean, an outcast, desperate for healing. She pushed through the crowd thinking to herself, if I only touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed. And when she did, she immediately felt in her body that she was healed.
And when she touched Jesus, He perceived that power had went out of Him and He asked, "who touched me?" The disciples were like, come on Jesus, we're in a big crowd of people. Anyone could have touched you! But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, that she was healed immediately when she touched his garment, responded saying it was her and the whole truth. Jesus responded, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
This story is included in all of the Gospels except John. But Mark includes more information on her story. And that is what hit me the hardest. Mark 5:25-26 says:
"And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelves years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse."
Maybe the missing piece in our healing is the realization that we are putting more trust in physicians than our Creator, the only one that can bring true healing. Jesus loves us so much. He cares about what you are going through. You are able to boldly approach Him with your requests. We may not be healed this side of heaven; that's a consequence of living in a broken world. But while we are here, we can live with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) that only Jesus can give, even if our body is broken.
Of course, I believe there is a time and a place for acute care. Without it, Clara wouldn't be here many times over. But I also believe that putting a band aid on an issue is not the way to solve it. We need to get back to root cause healing. We need to relearn how to steward our bodies well. We need to use the things that God gave us, like sunshine, plants and movement. We need to acknowledge that stored up emotions can have physical affects and deal with things that we would rather sweep under the rug.
Let's invite Jesus into our healing. Let's ask Him what to do. What we need to let go of (bad habits, toxic relationships, addictions, etc.) and ask Him for the strength to follow through. I'm just a person, but I am praying that God will use me to help others in their journeys towards health and wellness. I truly believe that sometimes, we just need a friend to walk with us, encourage us, gently guide us when we fall off of the path. Someone who will sharing what they know, knowing that no one is perfect, but that we can get better, by making better choices every day. Someone there who cares enough about us to ask the hard questions and to hold us accountable.
I pray that God will use me to be that person for many. Jesus, bring your healing to your people.
Mark 5: 24b-34 ESV: And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. 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. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
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