But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. — Matthew 9:22
When I was younger, I used to love magic tricks. I would love watching magic shows and how someone would perform on stage. My mind was blown away by some of the tricks I witnessed. I saw things disappear that should not have disappeared. I saw things multiply and people seemingly cut in half. It was amazing when I was younger.
But as I got older, I realized that it was simply my mind playing tricks on me. These performers used perspective, sleight of hand, and other secrets of the trade to fool my mind. They made you believe they had actually done something when in reality, there was an easy explanation.
That is how many people have attempted to describe our Savior. They want to say that Jesus was nothing more than a magician, using secrets and perspective to fool the people in that day. But in this passage of Matthew 9, we see that is not the truth. We see that each situation required faith.
In verse 22, Jesus commends the faith of the woman with the issue of blood. He didn’t say it was His awesome power, His deity, or anything in Him that healed her. He said it was her faith. Though He could have argued it was all Him (because it was), He said it happened because she put her faith in Him.
We often share our concerns, trials, and struggles with God, but never put our faith in Him to handle them! What are you facing today that you need help with from God? Maybe you have prayed about it, but have you truly put your faith in Him to handle it? He can handle anything life may bring your way. You just have to trust Him!
Jared Dyson
Another Well Ministries
In our church, we don’t have paid callings per se, some of the leaders get a stipend, but most of the ecclesiastical running of the church are volunteer. So we have a saying:
“the Lord doesn’t call the qualified, the Lord qualifies the called!”
Lord will bless us our efforts if we are called.
It goes even further than that, if we trust the Lord’s and we express righteous desires, the path will be opened to us. If we are not, we will have a stupor of thought.
I have taken that literally and I have truly experienced this in my personal life.
...there is a group here that has adopted the Amish model of only meeting in the homes of the parishioners...
,,,they are operating in a very similar manner to your church...
Now that is a huge AMEN.
...absolutely...
The healing power of God is like the water in a well...it exists...it takes a bucket (faith) to retrieve the water and when we drink of this living water we are made whole...just as Jesus explained to the woman at the well...God NEVER changes...and He desires that we be made whole...
Another example is the biblical passage where Peter walks on water in the sea of Galilee. His faith helps him walk on water, but when he takes his eyes off Jesus and sees where he is, he has trouble.
...indeed...
The main message, focus on God, not your troubles.
...once you lay your troubles down at the cross of Jesus, leave them there and walk away unburdened by them...