The Bleeding Woman

God’s word is living, and it is so so sweet. In a time of world-wide uncertainty with the outbreak of Coronavirus, we can turn to women who walked ahead of us in times of sickness and confusion, who leaned into God instead of turn away from Him.

I will point to three women over the next three days who trusted God to bring their worries and fears to Him to be healed. It is hard to be vulnerable, but God already knows everything on our hearts, so when we present our worries to Him and trust Him, we remove the burden off of our shoulders and give it to the One who can truly carry it.

The first woman is found in Mark, chapter 5. It starts in verse 25 and reads,

“25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

The woman’s hope and faith that Jesus could heal her is remarkable. She never doubted Jesus’ ability to heal her and made every effort to come in contact with Him. Twelve years of suffering is a long time. During this time, she probably wasn’t allowed to go to social gatherings, and her social group was limited. I imagine she felt very lonely. We are in a unique time when we have been asked to limit our physical contact with others only for a short period compared to the woman’s twelve years. We are fortunate that technology has made it simple for us to communicate with our loved ones who may be far away so that we do not feel utterly alone, but this woman did not have that novelty.

We are blessed when our bodies work the way they should. It is frightening when they don’t. But do not give up hope, because we have a God who sees our suffering and who can heal us in ways that we cannot imagine. God’s miracle in our time may not be physical and immediate healing of disease, but it could be that you take time to grow closer in relationship with Him and find the peace you’ve never felt before. Or it could be that people turn to hope in a time of fear. We can also see His miracle in the science and medical advancements all around us. Although it feels like God may be distant in this crazy time, He is with us, and He is healing our broken hearts, broken bodies, and our broken world. From this woman, we learn that our suffering is never too far out of reach for God to heal.