Jesus Never Had a Bubble~

This DEVO was originally published April 28, 2014.  I am revising it here because there is a strong need among us to seek Christ like never before – no matter the obstacles.

Tuesday greetings ~

I have a personal bubble. It’s the space around me that I consider private, and I don’t appreciate people all up in my bubble. Whether it’s to touch me, breathe on me, or to talk to me. A very select few are welcome in my bubble – like Jorge – but even then, I prefer a respectable distance. (The exception is all babies and small, friendly animals). 

I actually have a colleague whom I am very fond of, but the first time we met I flat out told him he was in my bubble because he was less than an inch from my face.  All he or I could do was laugh!

Thank goodness, however, that Jesus never had a personal bubble.

Mark 5:25-34 tells the story of a woman who had a pretty serious bleeding problem.  Doctor after doctor couldn’t help her and some had even stolen money from her.  But then she heard about Christ – the One Who said, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to Me (John 6:37).” She knew where He was, which was in the middle of a big crowd, but she made her way to Him and touched His robe, “because she thought, ‘If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.’”

And guess what?

“Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.”

No wonder this is one of my favorite passages in scripture, and here’s why. A woman, who by all accounts had every reason to be tired, frustrated, depressed, desperate, and hopeless DID NOT GIVE UP!  Twelve years is a long time to be suffering. Honestly, 12 hours, 12 days, 12 weeks, 12 months of an ongoing serious problem is terrifyingly exhausted. But 12 years? Lord, have mercy. And yet she heard something amazing about Jesus that compelled her to venture out in her ever-worsening condition and touch Him – to touch Him without His permission, by the way. Talk about invading someone’s bubble!

Jesus did not get upset, and His response is something that should encourage us all: “You took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.”

Her “risk of faith” paid off, and so will ours; Jesus welcomes and rewards our every effort to reach out and touch Him!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Sometimes we get discouraged.  Sometimes we feel as though our problems have been going on for a long time.  Yet this woman in the Bible story did not give up.  She made her way to You and received a healing.  We reach out to You today as well and ask for a healing in our emotions, body, and soul. Thank You for being accessible.  You want us to “live well and lived blessed,” and we receive it.  In Your name we pray, AMEN.