These next few weeks I would like to dig into some of the healing stories from the Bible and see what truths we can glean from them. The first story I would like to look at is the lady with the issue of blood.
Mark 5:25-34 reads, Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well.
Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that power had gone out of him, turned around in the crowd and said, Who touched my clothes?
But his disciples said to him, You see the multitude thronging you, and you say, Who touched me? And he looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came 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 affliction.
I think there are several strong lessons we can learn from this story. First it says she heard about Jesus. What did she hear? Im sure it wasnt just that he was a nice guy but rather that he healed all that came to him. She heard about Jesus, the healer, and without first hearing about him, she wouldnt have been able to believe in him to heal her. Faith comes by hearing, and we need to not only hear that Jesus forgives our sins, but also that he heals our bodies as well (Psalm 103:3 and I Peter 2:24).
Secondly you could say this woman was all in. She had spent all the money she had on doctors and was no better. She didnt have a plan B or C. She was sold out to the idea of Jesus being her healer and even put her life at risk for what she believed. She was considered unclean under the Levitical law and subject to punishment if she touched anyone. We can learn from her to not just try Jesus but to be completely sold out to him.
Next she spoke out her faith. Verse 28 says, For she said, If only I may touch his clothes, I shall be made well. She didnt curse herself by speaking forth unbelief but rather blessed herself by speaking forth life and faith. Remember the importance of our words and speaking forth our faith? That is what this dear woman did, and she ended up having what she said (Mark 11:24). She believed and spoke first and saw the manifestation second.
Jesus didnt know about this lady until after she touched him, and he felt the power come out of him. From that we can discern our final point, which is that faith activates Gods power. What a powerful spiritual law! This woman didnt have to work, strive or perform well enough for God to heal her. She didnt beg and plead with God to heal her. She simply acted on what she believed and activated Gods power through her faith.
We need to make sure when we are believing for something that we dont have the mind-set of OK God, Im believing, when are you going to come through for me? You have to move on my behalf because of my faith.
Ive been there before, and it is easy to slip into that works mind-set if we arent firmly founded in grace. What we need to know about faith is that our faith doesnt move God, but it reaches out and receives what grace has made available. All we need has already been provided through Jesus (Ephesians 1:3 and II Peter 1:3), and we arent trying to get God to move on our behalf but instead are reaching out and receiving by faith from the power source of what grace has provided for us.
Romans 5:2 says that we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.
An example would be like if you have an outlet and you want to access the power that is in that outlet. You dont wait for the power to come to you, but you plug something into it to access the power. Faith is like plugging into that outlet and drawing from that power source that has already been made available. It is there, waiting for us to access it, and I have no doubt that God loves when we take from his supply that his Son Jesus has provided for us all. Healing is for all and is available to all through faith in Gods grace.
Amber can be reached at amberdeemiller32@gmail.com or through her AmberRiceMiller Facebook page.
