Have you ever believed that you couldn’t possibly make a difference?
Other people can start big change, but not you.
I have looked at my life before and said to myself, “who would listen to me? I’m just one person who is known by very few people.”
What kind of change could one person bring without a significant following?
There are thousands of influencers on social media who can make a huge difference with their level of publicity!
They can bring awareness to so many important causes, yet so many choose to use their platform to advance themselves and boast about their achievements.
Only people with thousands of followers can really make a difference.
There is no way that one person, who has about a dozen followers, could make an impact on a whole generation.
Oh…
Wait…
Okay, I mean except Jesus…
Jesus had 12 disciples and I would certainly say that He changed the world!
He is Jesus, though!
I can’t do that!
I don’t know how I could make any difference in my generation.
What would you do, if I told you that you could change the world with one decision?
Would you believe me?
Would you rather see proof in scripture?
Scripture clearly shows us that oftentimes all it takes to make a huge difference…
Is just making one decision today!
Let’s see an amazing example of this, in Mark 5:25-34.
“Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.””
Mark 5:25-34 NKJV.
She has spent all that she has to fix herself and her condition has only worsened.
She is at her wit’s end!
Amid a large multitude, was a Teacher, who was said to heal people.
Here is her last chance!
She has tried everything else.
Amazingly, she believed that this Healer was capable of healing her, even if she just touched the hem of His garment.
This was not something that was recorded to have happened previously.
This may not have happened ever before!
She didn’t just have faith for something beyond comprehension…
She also stepped beyond cultural lines, in order to walk in faith.
She was a woman who was consistently bleeding!
We learn in Leviticus, that women are considered unclean during their monthly period and the bleeding stage, after giving birth.
When women bleed, they are considered unclean, according to the Hebrew law.
She has been unclean in her society for twelve years straight!
This means she couldn’t be close to anyone, because if she was close to other people, she would make them unclean as well.
I can imagine that most people, at this time, wouldn’t choose to go through unnecessary cleaning rituals if they could avoid it; so they most likely stayed away from her.
Likewise, she probably stayed away from people, to be considerate towards them; knowing that they would not want to become unclean.
She lived this way for twelve years and was willing to be hated by the crowd, if it meant she could be completely healed!
She had so much faith that she would be healed, that she was willing to be in a large crowd of people, who would probably treat her terribly because of her condition.
Touching someone, when you’re labeled as socially unclean, took a lot of bravery!
She was risking a lot to practice her faith!
She stepped out in a way that wouldn’t make any sense to anyone in that time!
It was a crazy idea but she was prepared to exercise her belief.
So she reached out in faith!
She made a move, believing that just touching the edge of Jesus’ clothes, would be enough to heal her.
This truly is crazy and I could not say I would have the same amount of faith.
In verse 29, we see that she was healed of her affliction!
“And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.””
Mark 5:34 NKJV.
It was her faith!
Jesus always has the ability to heal!
If she hadn’t stepped out in faith and reached for Him in faith, she would still have her condition.
It was the faith that she had to take action and reach out to Jesus!
She tried to fix this her way!
She spent all of her money and all she got in return, was worse.
This time, she still had to do something, but she knew it was not in her own capabilities or using her own resources.
Now, she made a move only to reach out to the only One who could heal her.
This was revolutionary and we benefit from her story today!
However, we are not the only ones!
Not long after this occurred, Jesus traveled to a new place.
“When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”
Did you see that?
The people who needed healing, at this new place, were begging just to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment.
What once hadn’t been done before, now was being done by a whole multitude of people.
Why was this?
Everyone had already heard about the Healer, before He came to them, and recognized Him immediately!
However, they also heard about an encounter that the Healer had, which changed the way that they were going to approach Him.
They heard about the woman who touched the hem of the Healer’s garment.
They never heard of anything like it, yet now a whole region was begging to have the same encounter.
Now, a whole nation had the faith to do something that, at one point in time, seemed crazy.
All because one woman decided to step out in faith, even if it didn’t make sense in the culture that she was in.
She made a difference, by just deciding to do something differently!
No one was willing to step out and believe for this kind of miraculous healing; especially those who were culturally excluded.
Before this woman, no one was willing to step beyond what culture accepted, and have the faith that God would make a way.
Her decision changed how this whole nation came to Jesus!
Furthermore, that one decision changed how people would come to Jesus, for thousands of years to come.
Today, we come to Jesus for healing, because we know that we can!
If this woman never reached out her hand to touch Jesus, would we approach Him the same?
This one moment changed everything!
If you’re still not convinced that you could really make a monumental difference, listen to this story in Matthew 26:6-13 NKJV!
“And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.””
This woman chose to show honor in a different way.
Culture thought she was being wasteful or foolish for using expensive oil to anoint Jesus.
They said that she could’ve honored in a way that made sense to the culture.
She chose to do things differently.
Because of her bravery to step out and do what was right, even if culture didn’t agree with her, Jesus said that she would be remembered forever.
Just one small decision, to use what she owned, only to honor Jesus, impacted every generation!
We will always hear her story!
Because of her, we know that we can bring what we have and, instead of using it to advance ourselves in any way, we can honor the Lord with it.
Because she was willing to do something differently, now we all know that we can do the same.
She didn’t honor Jesus with donations to His ministry nor did she provide food to Jesus and His followers, as most women would offer, at the time.
She gave to Jesus alone, the very best of what she had, to bless Him.
This was only for Jesus!
Not for anyone else’s benefit.
This seemed wasteful…
Not to her, though.
She knew that giving Jesus all that she could, was the best thing that she could do!
That one choice was recorded forever and stands today as an example for every generation who will ever hear the Gospel.
All it took was one decision, from one person, to change every generation, from that day, forward.
I love how God used women who had no platform, to change the culture.
Back then, common women did not have an influence on culture!
God changed all of that by using the faith of women to change society.
A decision you make today can change everything!
God can use your faith, to change the entire generation!
Yes girl, even you!
God will use your story, for amazing things!
Just step out in faith!
Photo by Rachel Claire
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
