“And he went with him. 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.” (Mark 5:24–35, ESV)

I’ll be honest I never really gave this story much thought when I was younger. But now, after seeing friends and family struggle with things for years I feel this woman’s pain.
Twelve years is a very long time to be struggling with a issue that “not only [left her] defiled, [but caused her to] defile anything and anyone she touched. Her illness had left her personally, socially and spiritually cut off” (WBC). And that is not to even mention the fact that the very doctors that were meant to help her caused her to suffer. And on top of all of that she suffered financial hardship as she “spent all that she had.”
Now I don’t know about you but if I were in her same situation, if I were an outcast who has done nothing wrong , who was physically ill, has been mistreated by them ones meant to help me, and if I had spent everything and still saw no relief, I might just be very angry at everyone around me including and most importantly God….and yet as tired and worn as she must have been, she noticed God enter her space and she reached out to him, Not only that but she vocalized her faith.
I do not understand why some people go through life with relative ease and why some people seem to face one challenge after another, and I get how it can make one weary and at times feel unloved. But while I do not always understand it, I do know that God is no respecter of persons. He loves you and I just as much as he loves any other person on this planet. He does not have it out for us, or is ignoring us, thought it may feel that way at times.
What I have witnessed is that the struggling has brought me into a deeper relationship with God that I would not have ever had otherwise. It forced me to get real in a way that I would never have done if everything was all sunshine and daisies. It strips off everything until all that is left is just me and God, and the hem of his robe, that I must reach for.
If you are going through a tough season, whether it has been one week, one year, or twelve, like this woman, I am so sorry for what you are going through, I have no words, because hard is hard is hard, but my encouragement is that you think on this story, She reached out and God came through. Yes, God does not always come through immediately. But, I do believe that he does not leave his children without hope, he does not leave them with out the help they need.
He loves you, you are not alone. I am praying for you!
Twelve years is a very long time to be struggling with a issue that “not only [left her] defiled, [but caused her to] defile anything and anyone she touched. Her illness had left her personally, socially and spiritually cut off” (WBC). And that is not to even mention the fact that the very doctors that were meant to help her caused her to suffer. And on top of all of that she suffered financial hardship as she “spent all that she had.”
Now I don’t know about you but if I were in her same situation, if I were an outcast who has done nothing wrong , who was physically ill, has been mistreated by them ones meant to help me, and if I had spent everything and still saw no relief, I might just be very angry at everyone around me including and most importantly God….and yet as tired and worn as she must have been, she noticed God enter her space and she reached out to him, Not only that but she vocalized her faith.
I do not understand why some people go through life with relative ease and why some people seem to face one challenge after another, and I get how it can make one weary and at times feel unloved. But while I do not always understand it, I do know that God is no respecter of persons. He loves you and I just as much as he loves any other person on this planet. He does not have it out for us, or is ignoring us, thought it may feel that way at times.
What I have witnessed is that the struggling has brought me into a deeper relationship with God that I would not have ever had otherwise. It forced me to get real in a way that I would never have done if everything was all sunshine and daisies. It strips off everything until all that is left is just me and God, and the hem of his robe, that I must reach for.
If you are going through a tough season, whether it has been one week, one year, or twelve, like this woman, I am so sorry for what you are going through, I have no words, because hard is hard is hard, but my encouragement is that you think on this story, She reached out and God came through. Yes, God does not always come through immediately. But, I do believe that he does not leave his children without hope, he does not leave them with out the help they need.
He loves you, you are not alone. I am praying for you!