Reaching for Hope

A large crowd followed and pressed around him.  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.  She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”- Mark 5:24-30

Life is filled with pain and hurt. We lose loved ones unexpectedly, we get diagnosed with a disease, we lose relationships, people choose to walk out of our lives, and much more. Many times during these difficult times we struggle and wish for something or someone to reach out to us, but we stay silent.

As we stay silent, we stew in our misery. As our misery sets in our physical, emotional, and spiritual strength fades. As all of those fade, we become bitter, angry, and often times hateful people that nobody wants to be around. We might even be considered “unclean” because of our thoughts and attitude.

The woman in the story above had been bleeding for a long time. She had been in misery for 12 years and people had neglected or chose to isolate her due to her pain. She had possibly gained a sense of bitterness towards God or, most likely, towards the people that would step away from her in her time of need. She was searching for that one thing that would heal her from her personal tragedy, but during her time alone, she had begun the process of stewing in her misery.

She was human, so you can only imagine what she was going through after so much money, time, and emotional energy being spent on procedures, yet nothing happened. It wasn’t until she reached out for hope that her healing came. In our suffering Jesus is leaning in, moving close, and waiting for us to reach out for the hope He brings. His Healing will redeem and refresh us. It is only in the hope that He brings that we can be renewed.

In our time of need, let us not get to the point of stewing in our misery, but reach out our hands for the cloak of Jesus, trusting in His promises. May we rest in His power of healing and redemption, in order to fully be restored, to bring glory to His Name in this world.

He is there; we just need to reach out!