Closer through Proximity

by Rachel Mahannah

Mark 5:25-34  //  And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

I love to watch cooking shows. Like all of them. I love the creativity, the time limits, the twists, the crazy ingredients, and the judging. But most of all I like the food. 

I love looking at the incredible dishes that the chefs create and often find myself disagreeing with the fancy-pants judge who is tasting them. But here’s the deal. I don’t actually know who made the better meal. I never actually tasted it. I am not there. I have only one of my 5 senses to inform my choice, while the professionals on the screen get to lean into them all. 

I wonder how often we do the same with God. We hear about him on Sundays from the platform, or maybe pick up a podcast but do we actually spend time with him? Experiencing who he is and what he loves.  We might know things about him but do we really know him?

One of my favorite stories of Jesus is found in Mark 5:25-34. We never learn the name of the woman, just her trial. What we do know is that she has been suffering for 12 years, that she has exhausted every option available to her, and that she is only getting worse.

I don’t know what motivated her that day, but her world changed when she decided to stop trying to fix herself and instead be in the presence of the Healer. 

How often do we find ourselves stuck in a situation, trying every other thing available to us but it seems to get worse? The job is still bad, the relationship still ended, the diagnosis still stands, and we still feel spiritually dry.

Like the woman in the story, we need to turn our attention to the only one who can change our circumstances and heal us. Like her, we can find everything we need at the feet of Jesus. 

We ask God to move in our lives, but sometimes I wonder if He is inviting us to join Him where He is already moving. Proximity to Jesus is where He works, where He wants us, and where we can find healing. So what might that look like for you today?

Does your hard heart need to break for the things that break His? Maybe it’s time to get involved in serving the community around you.

Do you need to hear Him speak to you this year? Maybe it’s time for more intentional time studying His Word. Maybe it’s prioritizing attending church weekly or committing to finding community in an Access Group.

Spend time today asking God what needs to be rearranged in your life to create space for you to move out of the same old habits that haven’t produced the results you are after, and instead find proximity to Him. 

Prayer

God, I’m so grateful that you are an experienced healer because there are areas of my life that need healing. Forgive me for the ways I’ve tried to fix myself. Show me the habits and routines I need to change in order to experience your power in my life. Amen.