“As Jesus was on his way, the crowds pressed around him. Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone. She came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and at once the bleeding stopped. Then Jesus asked, ‘Who was it who touched me?’ When they all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me.’ When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.’” —Luke 8:43–48
Crowds follow healers. Need has been rampant since Eve took her first bite of the forbidden fruit. The thing is, our Healer has a 100 percent success rate. You can only imagine the throngs crushing in on Him. Jesus was on His way to yet another healing when this sweet infirmed woman comes up behind Him just to touch the edge of His cloak. No one had had the ability or power to heal her. For twelve long years she had been subject to an issue of blood, making her ceremonially unclean and anything she touched ceremonially unclean (see Leviticus 15:25–30). This was a huge burden! Think about that for a minute. For twelve years no one had desired to touch her. No hugs, no pats on the hands, no kisses on the forehead, no normal human interaction. Weary from battle, she pushes forward to grab the edge of Jesus’ cloak thinking, “If I can just touch Him!”
Immediately (don’t you love that word—it is so Jesus), the bleeding stops. Many Scriptures are flooding my mind right now on how quickly Jesus comes to our aid. While physical healing is not always what we need from Him, His presence, comfort, grace, and peace are always provided as we walk through our valleys. One such verse comes from the book of Psalms:
“The LORD is just in all his actions, and exhibits love in all he does. The LORD is near all who cry out to him, all who cry out to him sincerely. He satisfies the desire of his loyal followers; he hears their cry for help and delivers them. The LORDprotects all those who love him, but he destroys all the wicked.” —Psalm 145:17–20
Jesus is in the business of making us whole. His longing is for us to reach His intended purposes and goals for our lives so that we may be complete, perfect, proficient, full-grown, and mature—not lacking anything. He desires for us to bring glory to God through our lives by equipping us with the power of the Holy Spirit. He may accomplish this through physical healing, or through death, through changing our circumstances, or through giving us the grace to persevere in them.
One purpose of our valleys is to grow us up in Him. Remember that it is Jesus who is the perfecter of our faith. He does not want us to grow weary and lose heart. In Jim Cymbala’s book, Break Through Prayer, he tells the story of a near death heroin addict and Jesus’ subsequent rescue. This is a modern-day story of a rescue by our Lord:
“Then, in the midst of all my pain, something or someone whispered words I had heard before: The day you call on the Lord, He will set you free. All the other voices tried to drown it out, but they couldn’t! I don’t know if it was an angel or the Holy Spirit, but the words came through clearly: ‘The day you call on the Lord, He will set you free.’ In absolute desperation I screamed from my bed, ‘Jesus, help me! O God, help me with everything! You’re my only hope, so please help, Jesus!’ I didn’t understand anything about prayer, so I even used ‘personal references’ as I cried out: ‘Jesus, Wanda said that when I called on your name, you would deliver me. So help me now, O God.’
“At that moment Almighty God swept over me and around me. I knew He was real because all the voices in my head suddenly stopped their hellish screaming and the ball of fear that had been weighing on me lifted. I knew everything had changed even though nothing outwardly had—I was still lying in my vomit in a hospital bed in the Bronx. But I was a million miles from where I had been before I said that prayer. The day I called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, He did set me free!”
Become More
Take a few moments to praise Jesus for His healing touch. Thank God for people who are faithful to witness for our Lord to those who are hurting.
Further Reflections
“I, the LORD, do these things. I, the LORD, form the plan to bring them about. I am known as the LORD. I say to you, ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious things which you still do not know about.’” —Jeremiah 33:2–3
“My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.” —James 1:2–4
“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” —Romans 10:11–13