Use your faith

The Bible says, “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years…touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped…Jesus said, ‘Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.’ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden…she declared…she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately” (vv. 43-44, 46-47 NKJV). There are three important lessons for us in this story: (1) Recognize and seize your moment of opportunity. This woman understood that Jesus was visiting her town and might not be back. There are “God moments” in life when you must rearrange your priorities, overcome your fear, and exercise your faith. If you don’t, you will miss God’s best. (2) Be willing to try a different approach. Since she couldn’t get Christ’s attention because of the crowd, this woman touched the hem of His garment and was healed. Many times, faith calls for stepping into the unknown, doing something you have never done before, and discovering God’s grace at work in ways you never expected. (3) Establish a precedent for others to follow. Until this time, no one in scripture had been healed by touching Jesus’ garment, and this woman’s faith opened a door for others to follow her example. “People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Matthew 14:35-36 NIV). The fact is, God is looking for people who are willing to break with tradition. And when He finds them, He uses them to unlock new dimensions of His power so others can be blessed and made whole.