For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. (Mark 5:28)
No matter how technologically advanced the world has become I find there are a few basic command buttons that have survived the techno revolution. Come with me for blast from the past. Do you remember archaic devises called the eight track tape player, cassette tape player and VCR? I chuckle to think some of you may have no idea what I am talking about. Let’s fast forward a bit to the Compact Disk, DVD, MP3 and iPod; I think you get the picture. Although these items were introduced and used in vastly different times, in order to operate them successfully you have to press a command button.
Regardless of your age or device you can agree that the play, forward, stop, rewind and pause functions are still vital for operating whatever device you use. What can we extract from this that will help us in our day to day life? With all the advancement in technology one thing remains true and is a concept that can be used to assist us in living successfully. In order to make progress you have to press forward. The path of life is filled with choices and only the person living that life can decide which button to press.
I recall a now famous woman whose story is found in Mark chapter 5:24-28 because she had a condition which put her in a position of desperation.
And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
Now this woman had a choice; she could have become comfortable in play mode and settled for life the way it was. She could have pressed rewind and lived a life of regret, replaying her traumatic experiences over and over again. The choice to pause and just dream about what it would be like to be whole again was surely an option for this woman who was no doubt weakened by her condition. Surely, the urge to press the stop button looked her in the eye every day. After all she had a perfectly good excuse for giving up, just as many of us believe we do.
The person we know only as “The Woman with the Issue of Blood” has become an object lesson to us all. She had no regard for the crowd, the rules, or even the whispers of those who likely passed by her pinching their noses for the stench. This woman refused to succumb to the limitations of her condition or the label placed on her by society. She was determined to overcome.
Notice Mark 5:28, "For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole". She had made up in her mind that just another treatment would not suffice. No more addressing the symptoms and ignoring the root cause of her predicament. She painted a mental picture in her mind about what she wanted and began to declare it over her life. A season of temporary relief was not an option anymore; she told herself she could do better than that. Enough was enough so she pressed forward for wholeness and left with no residue of what she had been through. Hallelujah!
A final thought. Many of the commands we talked about can be found on a device I did not mention earlier. That is the remote control. Listen closely dear friend. I know that sometimes we face things that are so harsh we wish God would just press a button on the remote control and change the channel. I’ve prayed along those lines many times myself, but Holy Spirit reminds me of Luke 10:19 which says “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”.
Be encouraged dear one, you’re going to make it, just keep on pressing forward.
Pray with me
Holy Father, I praise you right now for setting a watch over my life. Thank You Father for Your abiding presence which comforts me through every stage of my existence. Continue to impress upon me the choices to make which will lead me into everlasting life. In Jesus name I pray, amen.
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