For the last few days I have been drawn to a familiar story repeatedly. I read the passage again this afternoon,  amazed that it held yet more truth. Let me take you through the event, as told in Mark 5….

Jesus was in the middle of a large crowd. So large was the crowd that Scripture tells us that it was pressing on Him. In that crowd was a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. We are talking a cycle of epic proportions. Any woman can well imagine the misery that this woman experienced. She had spent much money & seen many doctors. In fact, we are told, she had spent all that she had. So now she is poor & still has the bleeding. No relief. She was getting worse instead of better in spite of all the doctors & remedies she had tried.

Upon hearing that Jesus was in town, she had an idea…..

“If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:28 NIV84).

Such a small word – IF – yet so much hung on that one word for this woman.

There have been times like that for me as well….

• IF I can meet the man of my dreams
• IF I can have a baby
• IF I can finish my education
• IF my problem were resolved
• IF we could buy a house
• IF I could find a good job
• IF we could find a church home
• IF that situation had not occurred
• IF ______ ….

Instead of feeling regret over the “if’s”, what would happen if I were to respond like this woman? Her “IF” drove her to desperate measures. She was fresh out of answers, resources, effort, power & ideas. She was done. Her “IF” drove her to the Only One that could change her situation. She only wanted to touch the clothes of Jesus & believed she would then be healed.

Healed, is defined as: safe; delivered; made whole; preserved from danger, loss or destruction.

Her situation caused her the loss of her everyday life. She was ostracized from society because she was unclean. She could not socialize. She could not be with family. She could not have a husband or children. She was alone. Lonely. Desperate. And an amazing thing happened that day….

“Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.” (Mark 5:29 NIV84).

Not only did she receive healing in her body (her bleeding stopped) but she was freed from her suffering. For you see, sometimes our situations cause us to feel like we are held captive. We feel hopeless. We don’t see a way out. We are in inner turmoil. We feel that our circumstances will never change or be any different. May we remember that she received a freedom that day. A relief from both the physical ailment & the mental & emotional pain she had endured. She was free.

May we be desperate for Him in the midst of our situations.

“Out of the depths I cry out to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” (Psalm 130:1 NIV84).

(Picture courtesy of Photobucket/survivor69)

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