Faith Power
Where does faith come from?
Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well." Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?" And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'" He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." - Mark 5:25-34
The woman was convinced that all she needed to do was touch Jesus' clothing and she would be healed.
Where did she get that idea?
Surely others had touched his clothing and didn't feel his power heal them, so it is not some magical cloak that Jesus wears. The healing power came to her because of her faith.
If she had believed all she needed to do was stand before him and look into his eyes, the result may have been the same.
What makes this such a powerful moment for us is the way she was healed. Jesus was unaware of her plight.
Unlike so many other encounters where Jesus asks what the person wants and then tells them what to do, this healing happened without his involvement.
If we think about it, Jesus does tell people it was their faith that made them well. He doesn't take credit, and here we have proof.
The woman's faith caused the power to leave him and work through her.
That means all we need to do is have faith.
Sounds so simple, I know, but what if it is true?
We know that the mind, all by itself, can cause us to become sick. We can will ourselves sick and the body will accommodate, so what about willing ourselves well?
The good news is that the woman was not healed solely by willing it so. She believed and the power came from God.
So, we have a two step process. We need to believe and we need to get God's attention.
For her, that was touching Jesus' cloak. What is it for us?
Maybe we start with prayer.
And while we are at it, we should ask everyone we know to pray as well.
The hard part is not to doubt.
More to come...