What happens in the span of twelve years?  In a young person’s life from birth to reaching twelve years seems like a lifetime already!  Twelve years think they can conquer the world.  Most twelve year olds have developed such confidence from “living in the world so long” that they begin to think they know it all.  They navigated their elementary years with constant new experiences in learning, social interactions, but still live with parents who do not think they are ready to live life on their own. Most parents love their children more than they love themselves and would do anything for them, especially when it is a matter of life or death!

As an adult twelve years is a long time to suffer with an illness that demands constant care.  Twelve years is a long time to continually cleanse yourself and your clothing almost hourly because of your illness.  Bleeding that flows beyond your ability or the doctors’ skills who say they can help you but don’t threatens to end your life.  Blood flow is life giving until it flows freely beyond the ability to replenish itself.  The woman hemorrhaged for twelve long years.  She was ready to give up, but had heard about Jesus.  She had enough faith to crawl under the pushy crowd of people around Jesus to reach out and touch the hem of His robe.

It is no wonder or secret what God can do through Jesus, His Son—sent to seek and to save lost people with power to heal.  Twelve years of time gone by is but a moment on the journey to salvation.

Mark 5, The Message

A Risk of Faith

^21-24 After Jesus crossed over by boat, a large crowd met him at the seaside. One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees, beside himself as he begged, “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him.

^25-29 A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years—a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before—had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with.

³⁰ At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!”

^32-33 But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.

³⁴ Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”

* * *

³⁵ While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”

³⁶ Jesus overheard what they were talking about and said to the leader, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.”

^37-40 He permitted no one to go in with him except Peter, James, and John. They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the gossips looking for a story and neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Why all this busybody grief and gossip? This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.” Provoked to sarcasm, they told him he didn’t know what he was talking about.

^40-43 But when he had sent them all out, he took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room. He clasped the girl’s hand and said, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” At that, she was up and walking around! This girl was twelve years of age. They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy. He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said, “Give her something to eat.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God has his own sense of timing: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). He has perfect timing: never early, never late. God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time.  So, it’s not too late to turn to Him!

Twelve years of life on earth for a little girl and twelve years a women has suffered as an adult with illness is no coincidence to God in these two interwoven stories of risky faith, small faith, but enough faith to know Jesus can be trusted.  The woman and the father’s faith was enough fall to their knees and reach out to Jesus.

How risky is our faith?  Even a “seed” of faith is enough, says Jesus to turn to Him for help, healing, wisdom, and most of—salvation—all because of God’s love, mercy, and grace.  With a mere seed of faith, we are set free from all our sins, set free from the hold sin’s entanglements have on us.  We can live this new, changed life of freedom, even while living in an imperfect world, because of our perfect forgiveness from our Savior who wants to be our Lord.

Believe, repent, rise up to be saved for eternity!  Jesus is worth the risk—worth it all!  So, reach out and touch the hem and be healed of all that stops you from coming to Him for help. 

Oh Lord,

Thank you for these moments to consider your works and deeds!  You are life!  You are love!  You are all we need!  Cleanse our hearts, heal our minds with renewal, refresh and feed our souls with your new mercies today, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, Amen