Your Faith

Your Faith
April 18

“Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour,” Matthew 9:22.

“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," Mark 5:30-34.

“And Jesus said, Who touched Me? When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, Who touched Me? But Jesus said, Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me. Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace," Luke 8:45-48.

The ‘parallel gospels’ are not always parallel. Many people have criticized the fact that some of the gospel writers have stories that differ from one another. Indeed, this account of the woman with the issue of blood, who had suffered for twelve years without relief, evidences the different personalities of the authors in its telling.

(See Mark 5:25-34) for the whole story.)

But what they all, and so many other stories of healing in the gospels, tell us is that matters of health were of great concern in Biblical days as they are to people today. What they indicate to us is the on-going search man has for health and strength—and what they should affirm to us is the never-changing heart of Jesus to supply our need.

If He cares so much about healing the sick, why do we see so few miraculous deliverances from disease today? The obvious answer is that we rarely look to Him for our release from affliction. Our eyes are fixed on the medical world and its amazing procedures and technologies, so we don’t need to turn our gaze to Jesus at the point of our need.

However, when the medical field lets us down, we do find Him to be “the ever-present Help in time of trouble,” Psalm 46:1, that He has promised to be.

A young couple, living in a foreign country, recently experienced the nearness of Christ at the point of their need. Their young child was stricken with a breathing disorder that gave the parents great concern. Their fears were compounded when they arrived at the local hospital and discovered some worrisome facts:

1. Sanitation procedures were not implemented by hospital personnel.

2. Concern for the patient and the worried family was not evidenced.

3. Medications were not administered by trained personnel but left to the parents to give to the child.

4. Translation of medical advice to English was left to the resources of the parents.

We tend to take the amazing medical resources available to us in this country for granted, but the benefits we enjoy are not universal and when this concerned mother and father became aware of the limitations they were facing, they quickly turned to the One they knew they could trust.

And Jesus came through for them!

May each of us, at the point of whatever need we face—medical, financial, professional, moral, spiritual—turn our eyes to the Lord who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” Hebrews 13:8, and is forever able to meet every need we face with His never-changing power.