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Mark 5:25-34 God’s Word Translation

In the crowd was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. Although she had been under the care of many doctors and had spent all her money, she had not been helped at all. Actually, she had become worse. Since she had heard about Yeshua, she came from behind in the crowd and touched his clothes. She said, “If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll get well.” Her bleeding stopped immediately. She felt cured from her illness. At that moment Yeshua felt power had gone out of him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

His disciples said to him, “How can you ask, ‘Who touched me,’ when you see the crowd pressing you on all sides?”

But he kept looking around to see the woman who had done this. The woman trembled with fear. She knew what had happened to her. She quickly bowed in front of him and told him the whole truth.

Yeshua told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness.” God’s Word Version ~ Names of God Bible.

This story is in many books on healing by faith, books about healing in God’s time. It’s a lovely story but I think each and every time I read it in one of those books I have to shake myself. At least to my mind, they are missing the point. As someone who has been praying for healing for a decade, I can acutely feel this woman’s anguish at feeling like the Father does not hear. Now, granted, there are a few things she had to deal with that I don’t. For one, she had a bleeding disorder which meant she would have been considered unclean…for twelve whole years. Can you imagine being shunned from a community for twelve years? If she had a husband, he couldn’t touch her or go near her. Like me, she had been under the care of many doctors who did not help and in fact seemed to make things worse. I can totally relate.

Here’s what I pull from the story though. After 12 years of suffering, not just from bleeding, but financial ruin and being ostracized, she still had the faith to seek out Yeshua/Jesus. She knew she couldn’t touch him personally, that would make him unclean. That’s why she’s so embarrassed and does not want to admit even touching his clothes. She probably didn’t want anyone to even notice she was there. Technically, even though she was immediately healed, she wouldn’t have been clean for seven days. It was a big deal for her to risk finding Jesus, but he doesn’t get angry, he doesn’t condemn. I picture Him in my mind smiling at her and maybe even reaching out to touch her arm to let her know (and the crowd) it was all right.

I may never be healed in my lifetime, or I could get healed in an instant. I will continue to have faith that it’s always possible. The woman in the story may have bled the rest of her life if she’d lost faith. If she’d become bitter she never could have been used in the powerful way she has been used. Through her story, I continue to have hope even when it seems foolish to keep it.

About the Author:

Kari Trumbo is an aspiring author, freelance editor, wife and mother to 4 vibrant children. She homeschools, teaches 4-6th graders Kids Club at the Paynesville Bible Church, crafts, and reads voraciously.