ISSUES AND TISSUES

Written towards the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic

Hi again, friends! I pray you’re doing well during this season of interruption to normal life. Yes, a lot of the interruption is inconvenient and uncomfortable, and some are really suffering beyond the trivial inconveniences & uncomfortableness. Yet in so many ways this COVID-induced hiatus from normal is good, because we are getting a chance to slow down, reevaluate, reprioritize, and reorganize our lives. Then when we DO get to launch back out to “normal”, we’ll have a chance to make a fresh start in a completely brand-new season.

I think one of the most difficult things about our current situation is the social isolation. Aren’t you so grateful for technology which helps us connect to one another? But it’s still not the same as being together with loved ones and friends – in person – face to face. We were made for community! It says so in the beginning of God’s Word, where God declared it was not good for Adam to be alone. Mind you, Adam was made for personal fellowship with God. But God recognized that humans have a need for community with other humans. So, he made Eve as a necessary gift and companion for Adam. There is a valid reason that prisons use solitary confinement as a punishment. And there’s a real reason that babies who don’t receive nurturing touch will fail to thrive. Because we’re made for community!

The title for the blog today sounds like the name of a really sad country song. But it's not, at least I don't think it is yet. The title is based off one of my all-time favorite Bible stories, the woman with the issue of blood. Mark’s account has the most details so I’m going with that one, because I like me some details when looking at these Bible stories. We’ll be in Mark 5, but first, some context.

Jesus was on his way to heal a little girl who was gravely ill. She was the daughter of the synagogue leader, Jairus, and Jesus was traveling to his house along with Jairus, the disciples, and a large crowd. We pick up the story from there and start reading in verse 24 (CSB).

So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against him. Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse. Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.” Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction. At once Jesus realized in himself that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” But he was looking around to see who had done this. The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. "Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

So let’s break this down into two parts: the woman’s situation and the woman’s solution.

Her Situation

She suffered from an undefined, untreated illness for 12 years. If that wasn't bad enough, this condition made her ceremonially unclean, meaning anything or anyone she touched became unclean. Talk about isolation, and that's 12 long, miserable, lonely, disheartening years. I'm sure she was avoided at all costs, because no one wanted her making them unclean.

*For extra credit: All the details of these laws can be found in Leviticus 15. It’s riveting information about all kinds of bodily functions for both men & women. Truly riveting.

One thing the isolation of the Covid pandemic is teaching us is more understanding for the stories in the Bible where people were isolated from community due to illness – like those with leprosy or other unnamed skin conditions, and like our friend we’re reading about today. We have now experienced a reality that gives us a greater measure of compassion and appreciation for those who are sentenced to prolonged isolation.

Not only had the lady with the issue of blood lived a life of isolation for twelve years, she was broke. She had suffered. She had placed her faith in the experts who had let her down time and again. Desperate. Sick. Alone. Broken. Destitute. Unclean. This woman had stigma, hurt, and difficulty written all over her.

Some of the older versions call her the woman with an issue of blood. We can take this passage and easily put our own names in there – along with our own particular issues. What’s your situation today? What is your issue? There are things we’ve been dealing with for untold periods of time and we’ve turned to everyone and everything for help because we’re desperate. This poor lady had tried everything but to no avail. Actually, she was worse and getting worse by the day. Dealing with these kinds of issues over prolonged periods of time tend to make us reach for the tissues.

Her Solution

She heard a report about Jesus and believed He could make her well. Then she made a declaration of faith within herself based on what she believed. And finally, the last part – which is the really crucial step – she acted on what she believed. She put feet to her faith. She braved the crowds, the social stigma, the fear within herself. She pressed in on Jesus and touched His garment. And what did she get?

She got the attention and notice of Jesus, though she might not have wanted it. She got His healing power, which she most surely wanted. She got His blessing, which must have come as a sweet surprise. Her life became a testimony.

For those of you who feel too much shame or guilt to come to Jesus because you think you’ve blown it too bad or messed up too many times, her mess didn’t scare Jesus. He was impressed with her faith and her boldness. She wasn’t too unclean for Him, and she didn’t make Him unclean. No, no, no, my friends. Jesus’ power made her clean! And that same power is available to you today. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He did it for her, He can do it for you. No matter how many issues you've had or how many tissues you've used.

I love how the Passion Version ends it in verse 34. Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, because you dared to believe, …

Whether it's hope, belief, trust, or faith, they all need an object to pin upon. Onto what or who are you pinning your hope, belief, trust or faith? If you don’t know the answer to that, you can scan your bank statement, your calendar, your to-do lists, your bookshelves, your playlists and podcast subscriptions. If Jesus is not the foundation or at the center of these things, you’re in danger of trying everyone and everything but ending up worse.

34 Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, because you dared to believe, your faith has healed you. Go with peace in your heart, and be free from your suffering!” (TPT)

Do you want to have peace in your heart? Do you want to be free from your suffering? Then place believing faith in the Only One who can give you true and lasting peace, help, comfort, deliverance, healing... <just fill your issue in the blank!> He is sufficient and He is able. More than that, He loves you and wants to heal you.