Come to Jesus, Reach for Him

Sometimes in life we may encounter an issue…perhaps physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual…and perhaps at some point that issue may cling to us, wrap its tentacles around us, suffocate us with its vice grip until eventually it forms within us the inability to live or function properly. We may even possibly seek out help, some sort of assistance or guidance, but perhaps all efforts are in vain, and somehow that issue manages to settle in and make its home with us for months or years, keeping us from a vibrant and free existence.

In the New Testament, three out of the four gospels record such a situation for one particular woman. Take a moment to read the account:

“And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?” ’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ ” Mark 5:25-34 (also recorded in Matthew 9 and Luke 8)

In her desperation, at the end of her resources and at the end of herself, the woman turned to Jesus. She came to him with desperate faith and humbly, fervently reached for Him…just one touch, and she was healed. Today, no matter what the issue is in your life—physical, mental, emotional or spiritual—come to Jesus, humbly and fervently reach for Him.

–Katie Botello