Desperate Deliberate Faith

“A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” (Luke 8: 43-48)

Here was a woman that had suffered for twelve long years with an “issue of blood.” In another accout from the Gospel of Matthew we learn that she actually had gone to many different sources for her healing but instead of getting better, she got worse. She was tired of looking for her miracle in all the wrong places. Here is a woman that was desperate for a touch from God! She finally came to a point in her life where she was desperate enough to do anything. Fighting through the crowd she came up behind Jesus with a “desperate deliberate faith” and touched the fringe of his robe! Her touch was desperate and deliberate. Desperate because she had suffered for so long and run out of options. Delieberate, because she knew exactly what she needed from God-healing! In her "desperate and deliberate" step in faith, she immediately was healed! Jesus knew that someone had “deliberately touched him” and that healing power had left his body! The disciples tried to tell him that many people had “touched” him but Jesus knew that there was one in the crowd that had really “touched him”! It wasn’t just a brush on the robe, or an accidental encouter. No, this woman deliberately touched Jesus Christ! Her faith touched him!

Maybe you are dealing not with an “issue of blood” but an “issue of life”. Maybe it is a physical issue, but maybe it’s more than that. Maybe it is a spiritual issue. Maybe it is a financial issue or a difficult situation you find your family in. Desperate times call for desperate measures! At what point will you allow yourself to come to before you say, “I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to touch Jesus Christ! I don't care how much I have to pray and fast--I'm going to touch Jesus! I don’t care what kind of crowd I have to push through! I don’t care what kind of sacrifices I have to make! I don't care how radical my obedience may appear! I don’t care how stupied or foolish I may look to the world or even other Christians-I am desperate! I am desperate to touch Jesus with my faith and in turn have him touch me like only He can!

Desperate people can do all kinds of things so therefore we must be deliberate about approaching the throne of God. It is my prayer that you reach out in faith—desperate faith, and touch not only the robe of Jesus Christ, but the heart of God!