Relying on God's Power in Weakness
"And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” - Mark 5:30-34
Recently, I faced an illness I’ve had many times before. Each time, it lasts five days, requires some rest and hydration, and then I’m all better. This time, however, on day five, I started feeling worse. By day seven, I was still in the thick of it and could not panic fast enough. I thought, if this doesn’t end now, will I ever be healthy again? What if I, like the woman in Mark 5, am sick for 12 years?
After a long two weeks filled with doctor’s visits and prayers, I was finally better again. When reflecting with a friend on the way this illness dominated my last fortnight, I thought to myself, how many “seasons” have I gone through in life with the same desperation, the same fatalism? Work seasons where I consistently made it home after 10 p.m. every night. Long stretches of time away from friends and family. Repeated disappointment in a new job where I'd placed a lot of hope.
In each case, it felt like I was isolated from support and reason, from the love and encouragement of fellow Christians and from the deep assurance of God’s care for me in times of struggle. In every case, I wish I’d had the faith Jesus bestows upon the bleeding woman. The belief, as he says in Matthew 17, “like a grain of mustard seed” that despite its size is all that’s needed to move mountains. I wish my first thought was always of Jesus’ power, that “if I touch even his garments, I will be made well.”
Theologian and preacher Dick Lucas speaks on Mark 5:24-34 and distinguishes the important difference of the woman’s superstitious faith, clarifying Jesus’ message that “it isn’t your touch, but your faith, or my garment, but the will of God” that heals. Yet God uses that superstitious faith of ours to lead us to true salvation. In each desperate human attempt we make to “touch” God, he wills those efforts to grow and build our faith to be more mature and strong.
It can often feel like we’re in the crowd described in Mark 5 when praying. Is my prayer or my need going to be heard among all these people crushing in around Jesus? Is the illness or anxiety that has overtaken my brain worth a miracle-like deliverance? Yes, Jesus assures us in Matthew 10 when he says, "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered… fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
While it can feel like our daily mundanities are exempt from the miracles of Jesus, we see in his works and words his care for every part of our life. If I just ask, the Lord will hear me. He cares about my trials, about my seasons, and he simply asks for my faith, not my touch or my works, in his power to improve my earthly circumstances.
Paige Lovell is the Special Assistant to the Executive Director of Ministry to State
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