“She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, ‘If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.’ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.”
All of us, from the oldest person alive down to the youngest baby catching her breath for the first time, know weakness. Weakness comes in many forms: failing bodies, wounded hearts, emotional anguish, relational strain, mental instability. We can’t escape it, and the truth is that weakness—no matter how it meets us—forces us into waiting. We have to wait for someone bigger than we are to fix what is broken, to right what is wrong. Although I don’t like it, I’m learning that weakness is actually a gift to me, because my weakness is a bridge to Jesus.
This is what threads throughout the whole of the Gospels: Jesus encounters people in their weakness and reveals his ability to fill the cavern between who they are and who they want to be. Consider the blind men who cried out to Jesus on the road for healing or the woman stooped over at the synagogue—it was their weakness and need that drew them to Jesus. The bleeding woman encountered Jesus because she needed a touch from someone greater than herself. Ultimately, it was her weakness that led her to him.
Weakness points us to our need for a Savior. The weaknesses that force us—that lead us—into waiting can be a blessing. God does not create evil, but he can allow weakness in our lives to lead us into a place of waiting where we are solely dependent upon him. This is usually an unwanted but beautiful gift. The gift of weakness is that it leads us to the only strong one. And his strength is enough for us. Enough for this day. Enough for this life.
More than enough, actually. It is all that we need.
Reflect:
Re-read Mark 5:27–29. How did the bleeding woman’s weakness propel her toward encountering Christ?
Pray:
Do you despise the weaknesses in your life? Ask God to help you see your weak places as bridges to him—and to help you accept his love and salvation in your weakness.
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance.العربيةFrançais
Leader explains why the movement is seeing its biggest membership bump in 30 years and its mission for the years ahead.
