A swarm of people were following
Jesus, crowding in on him. A woman was there who had been bleeding for twelve
years. She had suffered a lot under the care of many doctors, and had spent
everything she had without getting any better. In fact, she had gotten worse.
Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and
touched his clothes. She was thinking, If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be
healed. (Mark 5:24-28 CEB)
This past week's reading
is still with me. It's one that I've
reflected on often these past couple of years. This story is about a woman who
suffers from chronic illness for twelve years. More than just a year. Or five.
Or even ten. Beyond a clear and acceptable mark of time. Any hope of "well
after this year, surely I'll be healed" is good and gone by now.
She's seen doctor after
doctor. Carved out time in her weeks to seek the advice and diagnosis from a
professional. Paid time and again for appointments, medicines, traveling costs
perhaps. She wasn't getting better. She was getting worse. Again, logic is
defied. "Fifth time's the charm?" None of these doctors could heal
her of her afflictions.
I do not suffer from such
a severe condition, particularly one that inhibited her presence in worship, or
even in public. I do have pain in my feet, calves, legs, hips. It started just
in the left foot, and now is both. It greets me early in the morning and
lingers throughout the day. It was terrible - then almost gone - then hit both
legs with a vengeance. Going on two years. Like this woman, I've visited many doctors: a general practitioner,
podiatrist, chiropractor, and masseuse. Stretches and cortisone shots. I have
purchased sturdy shoes as well as the 'coolest' looking non-flip flops or dress
shoes that stand out in the summer. I love my foam roller. My compression
sleeves. My epsom salt baths. Insoles. Icy Hot. No running. How about yoga?
I fully recognize how mild
my pain is in comparison with those who struggle with all kinds of chronic
pain. Day after day, waking up to the same lingering feelings. Maybe, one day, symptoms subside to provide hope. Another, they flare up and you feel back at
square one. Or a couple steps back. Time
becomes frozen. Longing for the past,
when you didn't feel so stuck. Striving
for the future, when you will be free. Such a situation is glaringly stagnant
in the present. Every day comes and goes, seemingly like the last, and whether
you feel a sense of progress or not, the light at the end of the tunnel never
seems to change.
Maybe it's not pain, but
some other desire of the heart. A dwindling hope for a gift or transformation
of one's present situation that is yet to come. Time is beyond control. All we have...is faith.
And that is where this
story greets us: "Because she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in
the crowd and touched his clothes. She was thinking, If I can just touch his
clothes, I’ll be healed." (vs. 27-28)
Perhaps this day is no different than any other: I've tried
everything I can think of. And yet,
there is the promise of healing. All I need to do is touch this man's robe.
Faith perpetuates her continued pursuit of healing. She saw many doctors. She spent all her
money. She wasn't better. She was worse.
And yet, she still trusts that, some day, God will heal her. Rather than desperation, I
wonder if it was simply a call to try the next thing. She didn't know if it would work. Doubt
creeps in. The great crowd surrounding Jesus surely blocked her way.
Insecurities and inhibitions must have worked to talk her out of even showing
up. But with hand outstretched, she
touches him.
The story has a happy
ending. She is healed after twelve years
of suffering. But some of the power of this story comes well ahead of this
healing. Her faith encourages her to continue stretching out - neglecting the
years and years of "it'll never work", refusing the impatience of
"can't I be well already?!" Here in the present, she reaches out in
faith. Faith sustains her. Day after day. After day. In that moment she hears
"your faith has made you well." In the midst of pain, of suffering, of
doubt, it is by faith we are saved.
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see" Hebrews 11:1 NLT
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