Sometimes life throws us for a loop and we are left hurt, confused and questioning. One of the hardest things in life is to trust when it is completely dark, when there are no immediate answers. Sometimes we may feel like God is not there, that He doesn’t hear us, and that He has forgotten about us. The challenge is to trust that God is at work for our good even though everything in our life appears to be going wrong.

Have you ever walked through a lengthy storm and wondered if the trial would ever end? Have you ever questioned whether or not God has forgotten about you or has forsaken you? Have you ever cried out, “WHY ME, LORD”, only to hear the echo of your own voice return to you?

 

 

 

The book of Mark shares the story of a women who surely must have felt this same way – that nothing was working in her favor and that God had truly forgotten her. Turn with me to Mark 5: 25 – 28

 

 25Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”

 

While we may be familiar with this story, there are several key issues that I think many of us have failed to realize. This was not a private issue for this woman. The whole town knew of her condition. During the times in which she lived, she would have been considered “unclean” and would have been forced to live outside of the community. She would have been separated from her husband, her children, her parents, her friends – EVERYONE – for twelve long years! She was an outcast. Untouchable. Alone. Rejected.

 

After twelve years, she had exhausted all of the resources and opportunities that the world had to offer her. She was left with no answers, no money and she was worse off than before.

 

I’m sure this woman must have questioned over and over and over again why this was happening to her during the twelve long years that she dealt with her condition. I marvel at what her struggle surely must have been to face each new day because of her affliction.

 

Maybe you are currently facing a situation that appears as impossible as the one that this woman faced. You wake up every morning and wonder how you are going to make it through the day. Over time, your situation has gotten worse, instead of better. You have lost family, friends, position, stability, finances. You feel alone and rejected.

 

Picture this scene. . . . this woman who has been an outcast for 12 years decides that she is going to press through the crowd and touch the Messiah in order to receive her healing. She knows that she can be stoned to death for entering the common area. So, I believe she gets down on her hands and knees and crawls through the crowd to the Messiah. How else would she have been able to touch the hem of his garment unless she was on the ground herself? Desperate for what only Jesus can give her, she reaches out and touches Him.

 

 29Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. 30And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

 

Do you really believe that Jesus didn’t know who touched him? We read in so many other places in the bible where Jesus perceives the thoughts of those around him and predicts the actions of his disciples and others. Do we really think that he didn’t know who touched him? I believe He did know, but He wanted to make her healing public. Just as public as her issue of blood and her humiliation and embarrassment and outcasted life had been, I believe that he wanted to make her restoration equally public. He chose that time and that way in order to fully restore to her everything that she had lost.

 

I’m sure that this woman wanted healing long before it came, but God had an ordained time. He could have healed her sooner; He could have healed her privately, but He chose this time and in this manner. Not only did He heal her, not only did He publicly restore her & her family, but her story was so public that it would be carved into the Scriptures for all to read throughout the centuries. So that we could be here on this day, at this time, receiving hope and comfort for our present afflictions.

 

However, unlike the woman with the issue of blood, we do not have to wait for Jesus to be passing by. He is Immanuel – God with us TODAY.

 

God is with you today in the midst of whatever storm you are facing. And just like He had a greater plan and purpose for this woman – a plan that would influence lives for centuries to come – He has a plan for you, even in the midst of your pain.

 

Sometimes in the storms of life PURPOSE is hidden behind all the pain and suffering. Sometimes the WHY is all a part of the BIG PICTURE that God is working out in the UNIVERSE. Whatever the case may be, we can be assured that GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK BEHIND THE SCENES. GOD’S FAITHFULNESS trumps any impossible situation that you or I may be facing.

 

The Lord is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him. (Psalms 145:17-20a NKJV)

 

What are some key takeaways for you from this story? How can you apply them to your life?

How can you use the miraculous story of the Woman with the Issue of Blood to encourage yourself, or someone you know, today?