Desperate Faith

Hi Wesley! I hope you enjoyed our study of Luke during the advent season! In the beginning of Luke, we studied the birth of Jesus and the beginning of his ministry. I will be focusing on the section of Luke from chapter 7-12. In this section, Jesus is very busy! He is healing many people, setting people free, and teaching everywhere he goes. There is story after story of his miracle-working power changing people’s lives! One story that stands out to me in particular is in Luke 8:40-48. It’s the story of Jesus healing the bleeding woman. In the story, Jesus is on his way to heal the daughter of Jairus, who was a ruler in the synagogue, when a woman suffering from chronic bleeding reaches out to touch his cloak, believing that even touching the hem of his cloak will be enough to heal her. Her bleeding ceases immediately! I specifically love the way Jesus reacts to this action. He stops and asks who touched him. Keep in mind that he is walking through a crowd. There are people all around him! Of course, someone touched him! But this is different. He goes on and says, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” He felt this specific woman’s touch and he felt his healing power leave him! He cared about this woman’s pain in the midst of a crowd while on his way to heal someone else. He saw her in her pain and desperation and met her there with compassion and healing. The woman was acting out of desperate faith in order to be healed, and Jesus responded to her desperation.

Have you ever been in a position of desperate faith, where you needed God to move in your life so badly because you had no idea what to do? I’ve been there. Last semester, I found myself in a place of desperate faith. I had just been rejected from all the graduate schools that I had applied to, and I had no idea where my life was going. I was doubting myself and I was honestly mad at God for allowing this to happen. But at the same time, I had no idea what to do next. I was supposed to graduate in May and after that I would be jumping into the absolute void of the unknown! My anxiety was very bad at that time because I don’t do well with the unknown. I was riddled with fear and anxious thoughts worse than I had ever experienced in my life! Needless to say, I was desperate. I needed God to make a way where there was no way. I continued to go to Wesley every Wednesday during this time because I needed a touch from God. This was my way of reaching out like the bleeding woman, hoping to just get even the smallest touch from heaven. During one of these services, I was led to read another passage from the section of Luke that I am focusing on: Luke 12: 24-27. It says, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” 

This was the reminder I needed at the time: that God was taking care of me and that I was worthy and loved! I clung to this passage. Anytime I needed to be reminded of God’s love for me and his provision, I went to this passage. It carried me through this time. This passage was my first touch from God in this situation. But of course, He was not done moving in my life. In the weeks following the service that led me to this passage, God made it abundantly clear that the Wesley internship was my next step. I extended my graduation to this fall, and I signed up to intern at Wesley. This semester as an intern has been the most life-giving season of my college career so far and I am walking in more freedom from anxiety today than ever before! The internship has been a clear example of God’s provision in my life. It all stemmed from a time when I was brought to my most desperate position before God. My story and the story of the bleeding woman are examples of Jesus’ response to desperate faith. He meets us in our pain, our disappointment, and our anxieties. He responds to us with love, grace, and peace. He makes a way where there is no way. How would your life change if you reached out in desperate faith?

I hope you and your family had a joyful advent season, that you had time over break to connect with God and rest in His peace, and I hope you enjoyed our Luke study. Happy New Year!

Author | Savannah Hill