She knew who He was

At the end of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, God says this about when His coming Messiah arrives:

Malachi 4:2
But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall.

We need to be aware that Hebrew word kanap, which is translated wings, can also refer to an edge or hem of a garment.  This alternate translation is used in several places throughout the Old Testament.

This verse is among the last words that God spoke to the nation of Israel before going silent for 400 years.  Then, after all that time, Jesus arrives on the scene.  He demonstrates His authority through various healing miracles and teaching unlike any the people had heard before.  As His fame grew, so did the number of people who came to Him with their various illnesses and maladies.  However, there’s one healing story that did not make a whole lot of sense to me, until recently:

Mark 5:25-29
Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years had endured much under many doctors.  She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all.  On the contrary, she became worse.  Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His clothing.  For she said, “If I just touch His clothes, I’ll be made well.”  Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

Her reasoning “If I just touch His clothes, I’ll be made well.” was the part I didn’t get.  I figured that’s kind of an odd thought, but it must have been ok since she was healed, right?

But read her account in light of the promise God made through the prophet Malachi – the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in His garments.  This wasn’t a crazy lady making stuff up about God and hoping for the best…this was a woman who, even after suffering for 12 years, knew God’s word and was clinging to His promises. 

She recognized Jesus as the Messiah – and because she knew the Scriptures, she boldly stepped forward to claim God’s promise for healing.  Even though she didn’t make a spectacle of her approach and she kept to herself in the crowd, her actions were still bold…she approached Jesus with confidence in who He was and what He was capable of.

Jesus recognized that someone who touched Him had been healed, and He stopped to see who it was.

Mark 5:32-33
But He was looking around to see who had done this.  The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth.

She was caught, so to speak.  But she acted with boldness again, even though she was scared.  As she told Him the whole truth, it would not surprise me if she had quoted God’s prophecy through Malachi.  Although the words she spoke were with fear and trembling, listen to the gentle, loving response from Jesus:

Mark 5:34
“Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has saved you.  Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

Her faith is what saved her from her affliction.  But what was it that she believed?  She believed that Jesus was the Messiah.  She believed God’s promises in the Scriptures.  Her trust in God was what delivered her.

So how about us?  Do we believe God’s promises?  We’re told that we, too, can approach Jesus with the same boldness of the woman in Mark 5.

Hebrews 4:16
Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

But…are we like the woman in Mark 5?  She knew who Jesus was because she knew God’s word.  Do we know God’s promises given for us in the Scriptures?  Faith in who Jesus is will give us the boldness to seek Him in our time of need.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

A personal pep-talk

Life’s been busy lately.  “Very full” would be a better description. 

I won’t list everything out for you…I fear that would not only be rather dull for you to read, but I don’t want to get anywhere near a “humble-brag”, either.  To say I have shared a lot of worthwhile time with many different people/groups, both at work and in the community, will suffice.

I’d rather we talk about how we feel when we’re dealing with a season like this.  There’s some mixture of tired-fulfilled-weary-happy-reflective-drained that I think we can all relate to.

That’s why I love spending time in the book of Psalms.  These song-writers did not hold back on sharing their life experiences with God.  You’ll find the entire range of emotions, multiple times over, as you read through them.

Here’s a portion of Psalm 42 that is really resonating with me right now:

Psalm 42:5-8
Why, my soul, are you so dejected?  Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

I am deeply depressed; therefore I remember You
from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.

Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.

The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night – a prayer to the God of my life.

I wouldn’t say I’m at the level of feeling dejected and deeply depressed, but I recognize those feelings from other times in my life.  We all go through seasons when those are very real and very deeply felt.

The part of this psalm that resonates for me right now is the psalmist giving himself a pep-talk.  Did you notice that?  He’s talking to his own soul.  He identifies the feelings of turmoil, but doesn’t claim them as his identity.  Instead, the psalmist encourages himself to put your hope in God, insisting that despite how low he feels, I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

When we’re struggling, a dejected soul may want to just curl up in a ball in a dark room, but instead, the psalmist takes three bold steps away from the darkness:

1.       When he feels depressed, his first step is to remember the God who loves him.

2.       Next, he enjoys nature – being present in and listening to the sounds of God’s creation, like His waterfalls, can help clean out the junk we feel inside.

3.       Lastly, he looks for God by day and in the night, trusting that God will meet him there.

This three-step pep-talk helps clarify our perspective when a season of life has been so full.  However, let’s be clear – these steps don’t “work” because we simply do them.  We’re not capable of fixing ourselves.  These steps only “work” because by doing them, we bring ourselves back to the God who loves us more than we can understand.  Keeping close to Him is what we truly need, in all of life’s seasons.

Keep Pressing,
Ken