Desperately Determined

She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” (Mark 5:27-28)

There is something 'desperate' about this woman's faith, isn't there? She wasn't afraid of the crowds - even though she would have been deemed 'unclean' because of her disease. She wasn't concerned that her need was too great for the healing touch of her God. She wasn't going to allow her 'weakness' to impact her drive to obtain her healing. She was 'desperately determined'. Some of us need to get this desperate and determined in our pursuit of the things we need God to do in our lives - to 'drive toward' our healing instead of wallowing in our weakness.

If I can but touch his robe...

She didn't even need to talk with Jesus, have him stop and acknowledge her. Her desperation led to her to believe that even though it would be better to behold his face, hear his voice, and 'feel' his touch, she would do whatever it took to get 'just close enough' to receive from him. Sometimes we approach God this way, don't we? We get 'just close enough' to receive, but not 'near enough' to really relish his presence. The thing about God is that he understands this type of faith, but he takes it one step further! Just like Jesus did that day, he turns toward us, asks the pointed questions, and then waits on our response.

Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?” (Mark 5:30)

Who touched me? As much as we might want to just be 'healed', Jesus is more concerned that we share in his presence. The woman's desperate faith gave her the drive to press through the crowds, but would it be enough to drive her toward 'come forward' with her need in the midst of what seemed like a humbling situation? Some of us need to be humble enough to acknowledge our need. We could just continue to 'creep up on Jesus' whenever we have a need, but he is much more delighted with our face-to-face encounter with us. If we approach with desperation, driven by hope, why is it so hard for us to just openly acknowledge our need? When we do, miracles happen! Just sayin!