Faith Overcomes! 

Faith Overcomes Fear and Shame. 

Mark 5:25-27 “A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.” 

Imagine the kind of life this woman had been living for twelve years. She was tagged unclean and unfit to be in community. No love, no help, no care, no comfort for twelve long years. In her day, if an unclean person comes into the community unannounced, the person would be stoned to death. They also believed that when someone that is ceremonially unclean touches someone that is clean, he or she makes the clean person unclean. Imagine what was going through her mind and the crippling fear it must have birthed in her to approach Jesus. So, unlike Jairus, the only way this woman could get close to Jesus was from behind. Sneak up, touch Him and disappear into the crowd, she must have thought. This was a big risk because she knew Jesus was a Prophet. 

How did Jesus respond to her fear, risk taking, vulnerability, and faith? Jesus’ response could have been, ‘someone just made me unclean’ and that would mean big trouble for her. But she banked on His mercy and she got it. Every time you bank on God’s mercy, you never ever come out short. This woman approached God driven by her faith. Your faith should drive you to God. Your challenges should drive you closer to God, not far away from Him. Fear and shame should drive you to God and not keep you away from Him. From the example of this woman, we see that faith actually overcomes fear and shame. 

When you look at the crowd in this story, they were aimless people as far as getting anything from Jesus was concerned.

 Mark 5:31 “His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

 The crowd was not intentional in its interaction with Jesus. It is a terrible thing to be with God and to be unintentional. It is sad to be with Jesus and get nothing from Him apart from the fact that you took a few selfies with Him. 

You have to be deliberate. You have to be intentional. Every time you get the privilege of coming into God’s presence, in corporate fellowship or in your personal walk with God, you have to be both intentional and deliberate. 

Mark 5:28-29 “For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.”

What is attempting to keep you away from God? Be deliberate about making that the very thing what drives you to God daily!