Have you ever noticed in the Bible God’s priorities aren’t always what we think is most important?
A good example would be Mark 5:21-34, Jesus is on His way to Jairus’s house to heal his daughter. He was a synagog leader, he was an important member of society, he came to Jesus begging for Him to come to his house and heal his little girl. Our hearts naturally go out to Him- and yet Jesus stops, for someone we’d consider less important. Life and death hang in the balance for this little girl, time is running out.
Our hearts race ahead, urging Him on, don’t stop for the tug on the edge your robe– the need ahead is greater. But He stops… for a lowly nameless woman in a sea faces. Her need was there, they all had needs, issues weighing on their hearts, but this little girl’s need was so much greater. She’s the priority we whisper to ourselves, this woman can wait…
How often do we urge Him on, to meet our priorities and our time frame instead of seeking out His?
How quickly we forget, His time is not ours- His ways are not our ways. Only He knew what this woman had been through, the pain she had endured, the wounds from words that stung like whips, only He knew.
The little girl was important, but at this moment, this fraction in time- this woman was the priority. This woman who had suffered for over a decade, this woman who doctors could no longer help, this woman who endured for so long, at the end of herself with only a shred of hope left, she was the priority. He stopped for her.
Come, Jesus, the little girl, we cry in our little human understanding- but instead, He stops. In all of His wisdom and reveals all over again His never-ending grace.
I think we often forget that He doesn’t just have the power to heal, not only can He restore what has been lost, what has been broken- but He can step through time itself. He can walk through the fabric of eternity, He can step into the “ending” the place where there is no way to go back. The place where time has run out and the very last breath spent- and breathe new life into what once was dead. He isn’t confined to a page, He holds the whole book and He never makes a mistake.
He stops for this woman, worthless, unimportant, unworthy according to the world- He saw her worth. Despite the pain, and the scars and the dirt He saw the treasure beneath. Like the Woman at the Well, He knew every scar, everything that had ever been said to her, every broken place. He knew every wound, every silent tear. He saw them all! All of them, and He saw her worth.
He knew, and He stopped. He stopped everything for her. To set her free, to restore what had been lost. I wish the bible told us what happened to this woman, who just had to touch the hem of his clothes. She didn’t ask for his attention, she didn’t ask for Him to stop- she simply believed. She clung to that last little thread of hope and reached out her hand.
How many of us, like this nameless woman, just need His presence? How many of us are longing for Him? How many of us are needing Him to restore us? But feel unworthy to get His attention, to take Him from the “more important” needs.
Stop letting fear hold you back, stop letting guilt hold you captive- go stretch your hand out and touch the edge of his garment. There are no small needs with Him. He cares about each and everything that touches your life, everything that weighs on your heart big or small. Just like with this woman- He knows, He sees.
Maybe He’s waiting for you, to come to a point where you can say “I’ve tried everything, I have done everything I can. No one can save me- but you. Only you can fix this. Only you can make a way,”
“Daughter” He called her daughter, and He set her free. He stopped everything, to meet her just where she was. No admonishments, no chastisements, no accusations, He didn’t say He was in a hurry- no this moment was all about her. How beautiful is that?
Thank you, Lord, for meeting us right where we are, in the middle of our mess, in the middle of our brokenness. Thank you for stepping into our need and filling it with yourself.
But suddenly the light dims, and guilt threatens the rejoicing- the little girl has died. I can’t imagine the guilt that slammed onto this woman’s shoulders. The breath ripped from her lungs as she heard those words. And so quickly, we’ve forgotten. His time, His way.
What we see as an ending, He only sees as a coma- “Don’t be afraid.” I imagine Jesus chuckling as He says it, you see He already knew the ending of this little girl’s story and today wasn’t it. He still had plans for her and nothing, not even death could stop them.
We are so quick to fear when He doesn’t meet our timetable. So quick to doubt when the path looks a little dark. We’re so quick to squirm and get uncomfortable, to walk away when His plan doesn’t line up with ours.
Death is nothing but sleep to Him… only a new opportunity to show off His power and His love. He can turn back time to prove a point to one person. With a word, He can still a raging storm. And yet we are surprised when this little girl opens her eyes.
His time, His way. Wait for Him. Cling to Him all the tighter when it looks like there is no way out, and the end is looming just ahead- and then open your eyes and see what He is doing. He hasn’t forgotten you. His pen hasn’t been dropped, it hasn’t hesitated- trust Him.
You are valuable to Him. Precious. Irreplaceable. There is no other one like you, and your story is being woven by a master storyteller, to show others His power and His love and His never-ending grace.
The storm raging around you doesn’t mean He’s abandoned you, that He’s forgotten you… sometimes it only means He’s coming, to make a way where there was none. To turn the page, when everyone else said it was the end.
He let you spend a night in the lion’s den so that He could shut their mouths. He allowed you to walk through the fire, to show the world His power. He led you through the water on dry ground, to show you the world His might.
He led you to the foot of the cross, so He could take your place and reveal His mercy as He stepped through the fabric of eternity and the essence of time to save you. To set you free, to restore, breath new life into the places that have been dead for so long- He did it all for you.
To meet you, right here and turn the period to a comma. Your story doesn’t end where the world says it does… He’s not finished yet.
I have written about this woman many times, what an interesting take on it, thanks.
Thank you!
"Death is nothing but sleep to Him", I love this line. So true. Thank you for the encouragement to focus on God's timing and not my own. God bless you.
Thanks for the insightful post. I particularly appreciate your comment, “He doesn't just have the power to heal, not only can He restore what has been lost, what has been broken- but He can step through time itself, He can walk through the fabric of eternity, He can step into the "ending" the place where is no way to go back. The place where time has run out and the very last breath spent- and breathe new life into what once was dead.” We need to trust that Jesus can transcend time, circumstances, situations. And that always make time to enter into our stories. I just wrote about this woman from a slightly different angle in my latest post, “Turn and See – the Isolated, the Marginalized, the Outcast, and the Broken” on my blog The Stones Call. Thanks for your post!
Such a timely and wisdom-filled piece!
I'm so happy He will stop for us!
As He walked the earth, compassion was always in the heart of Christ.
Thank you for this encouragement. This is beautiful. I know I have trouble trusting God, especially during waiting periods and when I can't see any way ahead. I tend to take things into my own hands much of the time. His presence is something that should make a difference to all of us. Unfortunately we sometimes desire the created thing more than the Creator, and these times of waiting exposes our hearts in this precise manner.
Very beautiful, touching post, thank you!!!