April 25, 2012
Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed." -- Matthew 9: 20-21 (NLT)
We live in a very cruel and unforgiving world. Due to the fallen nature of man we can be assured that things are going to get worse before Jesus comes again to rule. We have to face uncertainties, pain, and loss. But we do not hope in futility as those who do not know salvation through Jesus Christ. The world may teach us to give in but God teaches us to persevere:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -- James 1: 2-4 (NIV)
Can you imagine considering the trials we face in this life as pure joy? God always sets the bar to heights we cannot achieve without His divine power. It is easy to praise God on the mountaintop but it is in the valley of the shadow of death that we develop our true nature. We can choose to give into the pain or we can choose to give it over to God and persevere. Whenever our faith is tested we develop perseverance. When we are faced with a seemingly impossible situation such as the death of someone we love or a horrific medical report we have a choice to make. We can stop believing God and watch our faith erode or we can choose to believe God despite the valley and watch our faith be strengthened. It is through the process of strengthening our faith that perseverance is developed. When that perseverance in the face of the unfairness of this life is complete -- then we will achieve the maturity God is seeking in us.
I recognize this is easier taught than caught. It is easier to write about it then to have to live through it. Realize this is often not an overnight experience either. The valley often runs very deep and we grow weary of having to continue to plod through. In the key verse above we see the woman with the issue of blood. Read Leviticus 15 to get a grasp on how miserable her existence must have been. She was considered to be in a constant state of being unclean -- similar to the state of a leper. This was who she was for twelve long years. Day in and day out completely rejected in the culture in which she lived. The Bible says that she exhausted all of her money during these years on the medical experts of her day only to grow worse. How many of us know that when we are in the dark valley the world does not have the answers we need. Only God has the answers.
How many of us would have grown bitter by now? How many of us would have blamed God? Given up on God? How many would have felt completely disillusioned by this life and this world? But this woman had persevered. Her faith had been tested for 12 years in the dark valley and when she heard Jesus was in town she pursued Him. She went after Him. Remember that whenever Jesus walked through a town the crowds that would surround Him were dense; yet this woman did not care. Her faith was too strong. She pressed through the crowds of people. Picture her pushing people out of the way, ducking through the taller people, perhaps crawling at some points to keep moving forward to get to the one man who she knew could finally take her out of the dark valley. She knew she had to touch Him -- not even Him -- just the hem of the garment He was wearing. THAT is how powerful God is!
And she was healed. Jesus tells her that is was due to her faith and sometimes we can over-simplify that. In realistic terms see what Jesus means here. Without her faith she never presses through the crowd. Without her faith she is not willing to crawl to get to Jesus. Without her faith she probably stays home that day and bemoans her condition. Her faith is what led her to persevere and leave the house and press through the crowd, and finally be delivered.
Wherever this writing finds you today remember that
the valley does have an end. The darkness does have an end. I cannot tell you
how long the dark valley will be. I can tell you that if you persevere to the
end that you will come out on the other end mature and lacking nothing. You
will be able to help others who go through similar valleys. I cannot tell you
that it will be easy. What I can tell you is that you have to be willing to
pursue Him. You have to be willing to get up again when the world tells you to
stay down. You have to be willing to leave your house and go after the only man
who has the power to free you and deliver you. You will have to press through
the crowd, despite how many people will rise up in opposition to you. You will
have to reach out in faith knowing that perseverance has completed its work in
your life.
Rev. Anthony
