Can you imagine being sick for twelve years? Think of what your emotions would be like if you went from doctor to doctor and tried every medicine, diet, natural remedy, and suggestion all the experts offered you. Some of you know exactly what this feels like. It would be easy to lose hope of ever being able to get well. After 12 years, I might not even think about trying anything new, even if I heard of a new doctor or a new treatment. Unless hope was still alive.
As long as there is Hope
As long as hope lives, there is potential. As long as hope lives, there is possibility. Hope has the power to enable us to endure great hardships and sufferings. Hope has the power to help us overcome great obstacles. Hope energizes the will. Hope sustains passion for life. Hope is a true superpower.
In Mark chapter five there is a story of a woman who had been suffering for 12 years with an issue of internal bleeding. The scripture says that she had been seen by many doctors, had suffered much, has spent all her money, and had found no help and no relief. It is not simply that she was not perfectly well, she was no better. Nothing had worked, and doctors had not been able to improve her situation. I can’t help but wonder how close she was to giving up and giving over to the apparent hopelessness of her situation.
Then Jesus Showed Up
Then Jesus showed up in her town. You probably know the story of how she saw Him passing by on the way to another man’s house. If not, there was a big crowd around Jesus, following His every move. It was hard to get access to Him. Jesus already had an agenda, somewhere to go and something to do. She had every reason to stand and watch Him leave. But instead, she pushed her way through the crowd, and got close enough to touch the edge of the tunic Jesus was wearing. That was all it took. Healing power flowed from Jesus into the woman, the internal bleeding stopped, and she was healed.
Hope enables Faith
We all know that she was healed by the power of Jesus Christ. But don’t miss the significance of the power of hope in this wonderful story of supernatural healing. We don’t really consider hope to be supernatural, divine, and perhaps not even powerful, but hope was the catalyst for this woman’s healing. She had not given up, not given in, and not resigned herself to her affliction, in spite of 12 years without any changes of getting better. She still had hope, and that hope enabled her faith to arise when she saw Jesus in her town. Jesus told her that her faith had healed her, and that is certainly true. But the journey to that healing began on the wings of hope.
In Christ, we always have hope, and the hope we have in Him is an anchor for our soul. It is a hope that can transform lives.
As broken people, sometimes we try to fix the small things here and there, when in reality, we need Christ to make ALL things new! Read how Christ wants to be the Master Builder for your life..