She had heard the reports
…and came up behind him
in the crowd and touched
his garment.
Mark 5:27-28
Well known in the community, her disease was one of those that caused a commotion when she appeared. She lived in isolation. Living wasn’t the challenge, simply existing was the insurmountable hurdle. No one would touch her. No one would intercede for her. Her youth was gone and the medical bills had emptied her accounts. Her situation was beyond hopeless.
Names are not significant in this story. But perhaps her name could have been, HOPE! Her life defines its meaning. Her losses were extensive with her health being the first domino. And yet having lost everything, one thing remains, hope, and it gets her out of bed, onto her feet, into her clothes, out the door and down the street.
She must have heard the gasps and felt the shudders of the people she passed. But she stumbles on and pushes her way through the crush of the crowd. Each step turning hope into confident belief that Jesus, unlike all the other healers she had encountered, was different. The word swirling around was that true healing power flowed out of this Healer. She knew that all she had to do was reach out and touch.
Hope–it’s what kept her walking to the point where she stretched out her hand and touched. And she wasn’t disappointed–everything she had heard was true.
…and came up behind him
in the crowd and touched
his garment.
Mark 5:27-28
Well known in the community, her disease was one of those that caused a commotion when she appeared. She lived in isolation. Living wasn’t the challenge, simply existing was the insurmountable hurdle. No one would touch her. No one would intercede for her. Her youth was gone and the medical bills had emptied her accounts. Her situation was beyond hopeless.
Names are not significant in this story. But perhaps her name could have been, HOPE! Her life defines its meaning. Her losses were extensive with her health being the first domino. And yet having lost everything, one thing remains, hope, and it gets her out of bed, onto her feet, into her clothes, out the door and down the street.
She must have heard the gasps and felt the shudders of the people she passed. But she stumbles on and pushes her way through the crush of the crowd. Each step turning hope into confident belief that Jesus, unlike all the other healers she had encountered, was different. The word swirling around was that true healing power flowed out of this Healer. She knew that all she had to do was reach out and touch.
Hope–it’s what kept her walking to the point where she stretched out her hand and touched. And she wasn’t disappointed–everything she had heard was true.
Jesus, forgive my self-pity and wound gazing.
Help me, today, to claim hope as my motivation
to keep reaching out andtouching You.
AMEN.
Image--http://www.hoperc.org/
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