Just then a woman who had been sick with a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind. She touched the bottom of His coat. She said to herself, “If I only touch the bottom of His coat, I will be healed.” Then Jesus turned around. He saw her and said, “Daughter, take hope! Your faith has healed you.” At once the woman was healed. [Matthew 9:20-22 NLV]
The bible is filled with stories of people who showed enduring faith as they followed God.
In faith, three young boys defied a Babylonian leader and were cast into a fiery furnace.
In faith, their friend Daniel later defied Babylonian law and was cast into a pit of lions.
Enduring faith seems to be the hallmarks of people like the woman in this passage.
She was a person who believed and trusted in God for a very long time.
For twelve years she prayed. And, as she suffered in sickness, she persevered in faith.
I know such a woman. My wife Ann is a person that has a faith that endures.
Since 2002 she has courageously overcome many paralyzing obstacles.
In 2007 she began conquering life and a rare disease using a wheelchair.
I think that it is so easy to gloss over the twelve years mentioned in this passage.
I think that those years forged a faith that emboldened this woman to touch Jesus.
When Jesus look at her, he saw a woman of substance that did more than just touch him.
In reality, faith does not grow by accident or happenstance.
Each day this woman, like my wife Ann, arose and chose to trust God in her pain.
So it is with everyone who puts their hope, and their trust, in the Lord Jesus.
Lord help an enduring faith grow in my heart today.
... this devotion is part of the Red Letters series. Click here to read more.
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