Discovery Journal

Guest Blogger Rhonda C. - October 30, 2010

Scripture:

Mark 5:31, 33-34 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Observation:

There is just so much in these verses that speaks to me about Jesus, God, and the Spirit, and how God sees our true needs when we don’t. This woman was thinking of her most immediate need, her physical health. She must have been terrified when Jesus turned around and confronted the crowd, asking who had touched His clothes. By this time, she had suffered most of her life, and had spent all of her money so she was old, ill, and poor. She must have felt very intimidated by Jesus.
Jesus stopped in the middle of what He was doing and was obviously not moving until someone stepped up. I would have been worried that I had done something wrong and that I was in trouble. But she had sought Him out in her desperation to be healed and she knew that He would heal her. Jesus referred to her as “daughter” not sister, and He not only heals her physically, He heals her spiritually and emotionally as well when He tells her to “go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” She had to have been suffering in more ways than physically, and even though it doesn’t say, she had to have been made whole in every way.

Application:

Jesus is limited to me because of my limitations, not His. He is available to me any time, any place, and I don’t have to wait until I’ve lost everything before I seek Him out in desperation. By staying close to Him, His power can flow into and through me every minute of every day.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for showing me a little bit of You in this story and for reminding me that I am Your daughter. I don’t have to wait until a situation in my life becomes desperate before I turn to You. You are always there, just waiting for me to reach out and touch You. Please pour Your power into my life and let those around me see how my faith has healed me, and that I am walking in peace because You have freed me from my suffering. Amen.