Tuesday, July 21

Today’s Readings: Psalm 67; 2 Samuel 3:22-39; Mark 5:21-34; Ephesians 5:25-33
Psalm 97

One of my favorite healing stories in the Bible comes from today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark. The story – found in Mark 5:25-34 – tells what happened when a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years reached out, touched the hem of Jesus’ robe, and was instantly healed. “There are dozens of healing stories in the New Testament,” you might think to yourself. “What sets this one apart from the others?” For me, the element of the story that sets it apart is the fact that Jesus was completely unaware of the woman and her need for healing. The healing was something that happened simply because Jesus was in the right place at the right time in order to be a vessel of healing. There is a powerful lesson in the story for those of us who consider ourselves to be followers of Jesus. That lesson? Well, the lesson I see in the story is that many times in our lives we find ourselves in situations where we – like Jesus – have the potential to be a vessel that can facilitate healing in the lives of others. Often, we are completely unaware of that opportunity at the time. For instance, we might pick up the phone and call someone without thinking much of it – and yet that call might have been the thing that lifted the other individual out of a valley of paralyzing depression. We might innocently smile at someone while standing in line at the grocery store – not knowing that the person just made the decision to leave his or her abusive spouse and needed a sign of encouragement to follow through with that decision. We might even feel a little guilty about asking a neighbor for help with a project – without even realizing that the person was struggling with low self-esteem and doubted if they had anything to offer the world. Time after time we can find ourselves in a place where we can facilitate transformational healing for someone we might not even know is in need of healing. Today, let us give thanks for the presence of the One who moves in and through us – even when we aren’t aware of it! Til next time…