Okay, so today is one of those days where we just have to get personal and have one of those "girls only" kind of chats...
Do you ever REALLY think about what life was like for women in Jesus' day? How the culture REALLY treated women? All of us have had to deal with that wonderful hormonal cycle we share on a monthly basis. For many, it is not the most pleasant time of the month...but can you imagine being hormonal and PMSing and being ostracized at the same time? Talk about depression!
The book of Leviticus (chap 15) describes how a woman who is bleeding is to be treated and makes it clear that she is unclean for a period of days. Because of the potential of accidentally becoming unclean by touching a menstruating woman, most men just avoided women in public altogether. I know that God created these laws for the health of the people, but, for me, this would have been a hard pill to swallow.
I say all of this because tonight I read the story of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Luke 8:43 says she had been to many doctors but no one could help her. The things in this story that always strike me are that for twelve years she was an outcast. For twelve years no one had touched her. For twelve years she had been desperate for a cure. Lonely, sick, depressed, desperate.... How many people do we know that this could describe?
Tonight another phrase jumped out... After she reached out to Jesus and He turned to confront her it says in verse 47 of the NIV that she saw "she could not go unnoticed." Other versions said she could not remain hidden. Wait - wasn't she in the middle of a crowd pressing around Jesus? Ever feel lost and alone in a crowd? It's almost lonelier than being alone and lonely...
It does not matter how "unnoticed" we feel, how outcast, how lonely. If we reach out to Jesus, we CANNOT go unnoticed. Jesus notices, He stops in the midst of important business, like healing the sick and raising the dead, to notice us. She was not unclean and worthless to Him. She was the most important person in that crowd at that moment.
Feeling lost, lonely, depressed, desperate? Reach out... He's already noticed - He's just waiting to show you.
Do you ever REALLY think about what life was like for women in Jesus' day? How the culture REALLY treated women? All of us have had to deal with that wonderful hormonal cycle we share on a monthly basis. For many, it is not the most pleasant time of the month...but can you imagine being hormonal and PMSing and being ostracized at the same time? Talk about depression!
The book of Leviticus (chap 15) describes how a woman who is bleeding is to be treated and makes it clear that she is unclean for a period of days. Because of the potential of accidentally becoming unclean by touching a menstruating woman, most men just avoided women in public altogether. I know that God created these laws for the health of the people, but, for me, this would have been a hard pill to swallow.
I say all of this because tonight I read the story of the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Luke 8:43 says she had been to many doctors but no one could help her. The things in this story that always strike me are that for twelve years she was an outcast. For twelve years no one had touched her. For twelve years she had been desperate for a cure. Lonely, sick, depressed, desperate.... How many people do we know that this could describe?
Tonight another phrase jumped out... After she reached out to Jesus and He turned to confront her it says in verse 47 of the NIV that she saw "she could not go unnoticed." Other versions said she could not remain hidden. Wait - wasn't she in the middle of a crowd pressing around Jesus? Ever feel lost and alone in a crowd? It's almost lonelier than being alone and lonely...
It does not matter how "unnoticed" we feel, how outcast, how lonely. If we reach out to Jesus, we CANNOT go unnoticed. Jesus notices, He stops in the midst of important business, like healing the sick and raising the dead, to notice us. She was not unclean and worthless to Him. She was the most important person in that crowd at that moment.
Feeling lost, lonely, depressed, desperate? Reach out... He's already noticed - He's just waiting to show you.
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