Jesus is on his way to a dying girl (Mark 5:21-23).  Her father was the synagogue ruler and he led the way back to his house where the sick girl was lying.  But the crowd got in the way; insistent on seeing Jesus they pushed each other to get close to Him.  The anxious father must have been worried and frustrated: how would Jesus get to his little girl before she died?

Just then, a woman pushed through the crowd.  She was particularly desperate to get to Jesus.  For twelve years she had suffered from the physical and mental wretchedness of uncontrolled menorrhagia.  She would have been ritually unclean and unable to participate in worship (Leviticus 15:25) and estranged from her husband (Leviticus 15:24).  She had tried every possible remedy and spent all her savings on doctors, who only made the problem worse.  And so the woman believed that Jesus was her only hope of a cure.  She had nothing to offer Him (certainly no money because that had all been spent on physicians who failed) except her need of healing.  Despite the pressing crowds, she believed that if she could only touch His clothes she would be healed. Of course, she was right - and her act of faith was rewarded.

We all like to feel well.  But however importantly we think of physical well-being, all the healing miracles of the Bible have a deeper meaning.  They are signs that Jesus can reach into the impossible and change people, radically, from the inside (John 20:30).  Those people simply believed in Jesus - confident of His willingness and ability to transform their hopeless condition.  Here, after mounting medical bills and futile treatments, Jesus showed the power of God in response to faith.

It is the same today: after a catalogue of failed attempts to solve the pain of a broken heart, a scarred conscience, a hopeless horizon, a long-borne agony or the exhaustion of pretending all is well when it is not … peace of mind and rest of heart only comes to those who come to Jesus in simple faith. As with the woman, the process starts when people hear about the Saviour.  But somebody has to tell them!  However kind our actions and the sympathy we give, if they do not know that it is only Jesus who can address the problem, they will not know who to seek.   So, let's make up our minds today to introduce our friends and colleagues to Jesus.  He is the only one who can bring sense to the chaos, and peace in the pain.