A Desperate Persistence



Do you ever feel like your situation is just too much?  Too much for you? Too much for the people around you? Sometimes even too much for God? Some would rebuke you for even admitting such things.  I'm not one of them.  The truth is, life can beat us down to a place that we struggle to hold on to our faith.  It doesn't mean that we have turned our back on God.  It's just our natural is feeling disconnected from God's supernatural.  When this happens, we either give up or we become desperate. 

Mark 5:25 tells the story of a woman who had an issue of blood for twelve long years.  She spent all she had trying to get help.  No matter what she did, she got worse instead of better.  One day she heard that Jesus was close, she made up her mind that if she could just touch his hem, her twelve years would be up! This woman was an outcast just because of her unclean condition.  No doubt, she was ostracized, ridiculed, and abandoned.  Can you imagine the desperation that made her think she could even get close enough to Jesus, let alone touch his garment? 

When we get desperate, all kinds of impossibilities come to mind.  She had tried the possible, but now she needed the impossible. If people knew what she was thinking, they would have reminded her that she was unclean.  They would have pointed out the massive crowd.  They probably would have told her that if she did make it to Jesus, she was bloody and would only stain his robe. I imagine that she thought of all of these things, but her desperate persistence blotted them out.  

This woman fought her way through the crowd and she did touch the hem of his garment! When she did, Jesus acknowledged her! He saw her faith and she was healed!  No matter what you are going through today, know that God is closer than you think.  Bring him your issues.  He wants to heal you.  You are not in too deep nor have you been in this place too long.  Jesus is still leaning in your direction. Don't let your condition discourage your faith. Don't let Jesus pass by without reaching out to him!  If you have to crawl and drag your bloody body, do it!  Whatever it takes, get to Jesus!

Reaching the lost at any cost,
Pastor Odie Kennedy

Image Credit: Tamas Varju

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