The Telling of Obedience

Anyone who has more than one child has at least said one time "Tell me the truth, who did this?" Usually, the answer is "I don't know" which for a parent is very frustrating because you know one of your children did it and you just want the truth. Maybe no one would even be in trouble about it because it may have been an accident, but you just want to know who did it. Times like that are frustrating I know because I have been there many, many times myself.

In Mark 5:25-34, we read how Jesus also wanted to know the truth of who touched Him while in a crowd. The story is  Jesus was on His way to see a little girl who was on her death bed and needed healing. Following alongside Him and crowding Him along the way was a very large crowd of people. Among the crowd, there was a woman who had heard about Jesus and she thought to herself that if she could at least touch his clothes she would be healed. This woman had been suffering for 12 years with what the Bible calls an issue of blood or as another translation says- a hemorrhage.  

This woman had spent all her resources on doctors and at that point had nothing left and was worse off from it all. She then goes and forces her way through this crowd of people that were already crowding Jesus, touches his clothes, and when she did, she felt the bleeding stop within her and she knew she had been healed of her problem. Jesus felt power being released from him and stopped and asked the crowd as to who touched Him. The disciples couldn't believe He was asking that because they said, "You see with the multitude pressing in on you, and you said, "Who touched me?" Jesus then looks around at her in the crowd and she then comes and falls before Him trembling, fearful, and tells him and the crowd everything. She ended up telling Him all that happened to her and He then said to her when she finished "Daughter, your faith has made you well again; go in peace and be healed of your affliction."

This woman demonstrated great faith and as Jesus said it was her faith that made her healed. However, think if you will of a large crowd of people following Jesus and pressing in around him. Imagine her making her way into that crowd hoping to get healed and most likely hoping no one would notice her. She didn’t even ask Jesus to stop and heal her, she just thought she could she could go unnoticed, get healed, and wouldn't even have to bother Jesus. She pushed her way in, touches His clothes, and receives the healing she very much needed and probably thought she should leave at that moment, and then Jesus calls her out to speak. Jesus then by asking the crowd who touched his clothes made her fearful and most likely embarrassed with all those people around her and yet the Bible says she fell to His feet and told the whole truth. She told everything that had happened to her and that is when Jesus said, "Go in peace and be healed of your affliction." This issue she was suffering from had to have been embarrassing for her to talk about in a large crowd of people. I know for me it would be. Something that maybe should have been talked about in private was now revealed that it was she who touched Him.

I don’t believe Jesus that day wanted her to tell everyone for her to be embarrassed or to feel shame, but rather to give a testimony of the immediate healing she received and for others to see not only her faith but also her obedience in telling what happened. A lot of people day I believe admired her for her faith and determination, but also for coming forward and saying that it was she who touched Him and why she did what she did. 

Sometimes I think for us we go to God praying for something and when He gives us what we need, we don’t tell anyone what He did for us. Maybe we don’t want others to know out of embarrassment, shame or maybe we consider ourselves private people. However, there is nothing private about Jesus. Whatever He does is out of His love for us and He wants us to testify of His greatness and power. He wants our stories to be able to impact those around us, stories of great determination, faith, and obedience are the stories in which people can see how God works and how he cares about meeting our needs.

So the next time you find yourself coming out of something that required faith, determination, and obedience, do not be afraid to share it. Do not be afraid to tell others what God has done for you, because again it is in those moments of God demonstrating His glory that others are brought to the knowledge of God and how great and loving He is. Testifying of His greatness and after all shouldn't we want to tell others what God has done for us? Shouldn't we be so excited to tell others what has happened in our lives? 

So be obedient and share the good news- the good news of Jesus Christ and what He has done for you no matter who is around you at the time.

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns