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Verse:And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.” —Mark 5:34, NKJV
When I was a little girl, I had a bike with tall, curved handlebars hung with tassels, a long banana seat—and training wheels. As I grew older I no longer wanted those training wheels on my bike. After begging my dad to take them off and let me try to balance on my own, he finally gave in. I was so excited! My family lived on the top of a hill at the end of a dead-end road. With Dad holding on to the back of my bike, I started to ride on two wheels ever so slowly. Dad kept holding on, but eventually I was going so fast that he could not keep up, and he let go. When I realized I had left Dad at the top of the hill and that I was now on my own, panic set in, and I crashed. Despite the fall, I gained confidence in my ability to balance on my own, and off I went. Faith drives us to try. I had faith in my father’s willingness and ability to help, and that motivated me to do something bold. Similarly a woman in the Bible had faith that Jesus could heal her. She knew that if she could only touch His garment, He had the power to heal her disease. If she did it quietly, perhaps no one in the pressing crowd would notice, and she would avoid being punished for making them unclean. The woman had faith she could be healed even without Jesus being aware that she had touched Him. But He was aware—He felt her faith. He felt her faith so strongly that He experienced the energy leave Him and transfer to her.
If she had not had faith in Jesus’ willingness and ability, she would not have been made whole. Her life would have remained unbalanced.
In the same way, I would have stayed on training wheels if I had not had faith in my dad to teach me how to balance my bike. We all have doubts and fears, but if we do not grow in our faith in Jesus, how are we ever going to find balance? The woman in the story did not touch His garment because she knew He would heal her—she touched His garment because she knew that He could heal her. Faith motivated her effort; she believed in the only One who could bring balance to her life. Do we believe?
Pam Carbaugh