Who are You Desperate For?

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.

Luke 8:42-43

   She struggled through the crowd, terrified and yet determined to get to her objective. People jostled her, pushed against her; they all wanted to get to Him too. Every shove and bump sent chills of fear through her, just one jostle too hard and she would start bleeding again. Then they all would know that she was in their midst; an unclean woman who had dared to break the law. If that happened then it was almost certain a stoning would follow for she had defied the law and possibly infected the town. But desperation drove her forward towards the Man she had heard about. Desperation, her constant companion, thrust her past the crowds and into the reach of His hem. And her desperation met the healing power of God and she was made whole.
 
   The story of the woman with the blood issue is so fascinating to me. This woman had lived with a disease for 12 years; she had no hope of natural healing, yet when she got the chance to see Jesus, she quite literally snatched it. We don’t realize how dangerous it was for her to simply be in public.  For one, a simple cut caused bleeding that didn’t stop and two, she was considered unclean, meaning she was not allowed to mingle with people. Doing so was grounds for her to be put to death; she was literally risking her life to save it. She had done everything she could, Scriptures say she spent every last penny looking for a cure. So she was sick and destitute; maybe she figured death was imminent anyway so risking her life might not be so bad. She was even willing to risk the life of a child in her desperation for healing. Remember Jesus was enroute to Jairus’ house to heal his sick daughter; the woman got healed but the child died. That’s desperation.
 

 It’s impressive that she was still willing to do all those things to get to Jesus. Let me remind you that in those days any time people with diseases went outside their homes they were required to proclaim, “Unclean unclean” to people in the area. Diseases were thought to be judgments from God on sinners, so she would have been cut off from society, alienated by even her family, and forced to speak out words damning herself to a life alone. Frankly, it’s amazing that she even cared enough to try and see Jesus. Unlike the man who had friends willing to break through a roof, it appears she had no one, only her desperation.
 
   How much easier would it have been for her if the crowd had seen her and opened a way to Jesus? If instead of fighting her way, she was given safe passage to Him? What if the crowd had been just as desperate for her to see Jesus? This woman still lives today. She might be your neighbor who just received a cancer diagnosis, maybe she is your child fighting a debilitating mental illness, a parent whose mind has now been lost to age, a spouse whose illness has no name. Maybe she is you. Desperation is what drives your everyday. Desperation to find Jesus, to simply touch His hem, to be healed.
 
   I realize this is the season to be thankful, holly and jolly, and so forth. But I’m asking you to be desperate this season. Maybe your life is just fine, no one is struggling or ill, life is good, that’s great; I’m asking you to be desperate for someone else. Instead of us being part of a crowd so focused on getting our own wants and needs met by Jesus, let us be desperate for those who are already fully desperate. Let’s not create barriers by focusing only on our own desires, accidentally blocking their way to Jesus. Let us match desperation for desperation, opening a way, holding back the alienation, walking with them into the Throne of Grace. This holiday season I encourage you to be more desperate for other people’s healing than for your own, and then watch for the wonders of God’s healing power to flow.