Get Down

The woman with the issue of blood is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. I’ve read it over and over again, but this morning I saw something new in this story that I hadn’t noticed before. Mark 5:25-26 says:

“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

This woman had done everything that she could possibly do to be healed. She went to every doctor and tried every home remedy; she had bankrupted herself in search of a solution. All of this effort was to no avail, this wasn’t something that she could do by herself. She was absolutely desperate.

The story continues:

“She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.”

Other translations say she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. She got down on the ground to do this. She was in the dust, in the middle of a huge crowd, she was probably stepped on and run into, but she didn’t care; she was getting her miracle. She knew that there was nothing that she could do in her own strength to be healed, and her dream didn’t come until she lowered herself and reached up to grab the fringe of his robe.

I have a tendency to focus on fixing problems on my own and coming up with solutions that I can do myself. Lately, I’ve been focused on dreams and goals that I have for myself instead of bringing those problems to the feet of Jesus and getting the solutions from him. This woman’s dream wasn’t made a reality until she was at the feet of Jesus. My dreams, my goals, my ambitions won’t happen without my daily, hourly reliance on God. I don’t want to waste 12 years of my life trying to force my dreams to happen, when God is the one with the answers. I’m not advocating inactivity, I’m merely stating that we need to live in a mindset of humility and reliance on God for the answers instead of trying to manufacture our own.

I’m committed to spending time on my knees in the dust before the Lord. What about you? What dreams are you waiting on? I encourage you to humble yourself before Him who knows every solution, every answer and live at the feet of Jesus.