Because God Wants More Than to Heal You

Hi Friends!

This morning (before running off to do a little homeschool for the twins, laundry, diaper changing, exercise, and kitchen clean-up - ack!) I was thinking about the story of the bleeding woman starting in MARK 5:25. Here's my retelling of the story along with what struck me at a deeper level. Today, I'm going to be thinking about this, and I'd love to hear your thoughts too! Care to share??

Anyway, here are my thoughts about Mark 5:25-34:

Once upon a time, there was a woman who was having that time of month. Except for her, it didn’t stop after a week, or two weeks, a month, a year. She’d been bleeding for twelve long years. And where she lived, that bleeding wasn’t only unpleasant and exhausting, it made her dirty, untouchable. She used to have friends, but they’re all married now, with children. She has no husband, no kids. Others have a nice home and a family. She’s spent all her money on doctors and treatments that didn’t help. Everything she once hoped for seems impossible now. And she’s so tired from the loss of blood, the loss of hope, the loss of everything.

But then, something happens. She hears about a man who can heal with a touch. It seems crazy. But maybe, just maybe . . . there’s a commotion on the street. A crowd. A name. Jesus. The one from Nazareth. He’s the one she heard about! She sneaks out the door, follows behind the crowd. Far enough back so she won’t touch anyone, won’t make them unclean too.

But she’s got to get to the one called Jesus. Maybe he won’t touch someone dirty like her. But maybe she can touch him. Just a little, on the edge of his cloak. Maybe that’s all it would take. She winds through the crowd, inching forward. Bit by bit. There he is! Closer. Closer. All she wants in the world is to be healed. For the bleeding to stop. For life to have some hope again. If only she could be healed.

She reaches out. Her fingers brush the edge of his cloak. And… it happens. She feels it, senses it, in every part of her. The bleeding stops. The anemia is gone. She’s whole, healthy, clean. She sinks back into the crowd. She has everything she wanted.

But wait.

Jesus stops. Turns. Seeks her out. He looks at her, talks to her, calls her “daughter.”

Why? Why does he have to stop her? She already has everything she came for. She’s healed.

--For her, healing is enough.
--But for him, he wants more.

HE WANTS MORE THAN OUR HEALING. That's the idea that I find striking. Because for her, and for you and me, FIXING us isn’t enough. God wants relationship. Jesus wants connection, interaction…that’s love. That’s what’s valuable to Him.

And I think that’s the lens through which we need to see everything in our lives. What happens in our lives isn’t about getting us to do the right thing, choose the right path, get our problems fixed. It’s about God and His love relationship with us. It’s about Him wanting to be close to us because He loves us. It's about knowing Him. Everything is about knowing Him.

When something goes wrong, when something goes right, when the kids are good, when they're um ... not. When my daughter's horse dies, when a friend hurts me, when I get my royalty statement (oh yikes! ;-)), when I just don't understand WHY. I do know why -- so I can know Him better, see Him more clearly, interact with God how He really is, not just as who I imagine Him to be.

I think that's what it's all about. What do you think?