There’s a story in the Bible that is written for those of us who don’t have it all together. For some of us, admitting any kind of need is difficult because we’re too invested in having it all together, or at least looking like it. Vulnerability doesn’t feel like an option. 

Jesus says that being vulnerable is actually a requirement of faith, and God loves faith! In Luke 8:41-56 we meet three characters, each of them in a desperate situation. You could say that they didn’t have it all together. Watch how they come to Jesus and risk being embarrassed in front of a huge crowd.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. Luke 8:41-42 (NIV)

Jairus is a leader of the synagogue who comes to Jesus frantic for help as his daughter is sick and dying. This is no time for propriety. Compelled by love, Jairus runs to Jesus, and throws himself at Jesus’ feet begging Jesus to come. His daughter, too, is helpless. In the next verses we meet a woman also in extreme distress. 

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. Luke 8:43-44

In contrast to Jairus, the woman is not a leader and has no social standing. Due to her bleeding condition she’s lived on the fringe as an outsider, isolated from community. Out of desperation she braves the crowd risking to touch the cloak of this healer.

We go on to read that Jesus heals the woman, and He goes to Jairus’ house and raises the little girl from the dead—each one coming to Jesus, just as they are, in their own vulnerable, desperate way.

Can you identify with any of the characters in this story? Maybe the leader who discovers that all the usual advantages and experience that he leans on are useless in the face of a new crisis? Or the woman who has endured pain and heartache, not sure she can bear any more? Or the little girl, utterly dependent on others?  No matter which one we identify with, Jesus beckons us to come as we are. He will heal us spiritually, physically and emotionally. This is an act of faith when we approach Jesus honestly and say, “Here I am, just as I am, broken, weary, desperate of His help, I need a touch from You.” 

Jesus responds to faith and will meet us right there. In the midst of a crowd of people that may find Jesus intriguing or even feel proud to be associated with Him, Jesus stops for the one who comes to Him unreservedly. That’s courageous living.

Prayer:
Dear God, I let go of having to hold myself together and come openly to You with my needs in this quiet moment. Meet me here, I pray.

Author L R Hartshorn

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Scripture is quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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