How to be Made Whole - Part 7 & 8: Interrupt Your Story

REVIEW

I hope you have been getting some practical truths out of our current series entitled “How To Be Made Whole.” I personally have enjoyed not only camping on verses like First Thessalonians 5:23 that teach us about God’s will to make us completely whole, but also looking at the specific examples in the Bible where people were made whole. 

How many of you know that the Bible contains the keys to wholeness? The Lord is so good to give us example after example in the Bible of those who did indeed line themselves up with God’s will and obtained their healing & wholeness. He did this to teach us how if we would do what they did, we can be made whole like they were. Amen? 

So we’ve looked at several examples so far such as the healing of the man by the Pool of Bethesda, Jesus’ cleansing of the ten lepers, the healing of Blind Bartimaeus, and then Jesus’ healing of Peter’s mother in law. We learned from this shorter example of healing how important “speaking to the mountain” is when it comes to us being made whole. 

We saw how in Luke’s account of this story, Jesus “rebuked the fever.” He didn’t pray to His Father to take it away. He didn’t plead with God to do it for them. No, He spoke to the fever! And so we asked the question – Can fevers hear? Well, based on what happened next in the story, we can conclude that they can hear because it says that the fever left her. And so if fevers can hear, then you can bet the bank that tumors can hear, colds can hear, headaches can hear, etc. 

Church, Jesus talked to inanimate things like trees (Mark 11:14 & Matthew 21:19), the wind, the sea (Mark 4:39 & Luke 8:24), and even encouraged His disciples to talk to the mountains (Mark 11:23)! Yes, we learned how Jesus said in Mark 11:23-24 that we shall speak to the mountain. He didn’t say that we pray to God about the mountain. And that’s the problem a lot of times when it comes to healing. In many cases, Christians are praying to God to heal the person. No, there is a time to pray and there is a time to say! More times than not, we are to actually speak to the sickness, take authority over it, and command it to leave in the name of Jesus. 

So then we went back to the Old Testament and looked at a very familiar story of David & Goliath and looked at how this is exactly how David tackled His giant – by speaking to it. Yes, we looked at that real life example - at how it describes the battle that takes place between our ears with the various voices, thoughts, and imaginations that arise in our minds when it comes to our giants. And we saw how David took care these “mind games” by speaking to them. 

I’ll tell you, church, learning to speak to the giants & mountains in our life is the key to seeing them removed. But if you and I shy away from our giants and always just walk around these mountains, they will remain. It’s time we face our giants and see them slain once and for all. Amen? 

I’d encourage you that if you have missed any of these teachings to go back and listen to / watch them, as they contained vital, Scriptural keys to being made whole.  

So let’s again go back over to our keynote verse for this series – First Thessalonians 5:23 – where we learn about God’s heart to see our whole man made whole. Again, this verse reads – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Saints, there are so many awesome truths contained in this one verse, but I want us to look at one very important piece of information that it’s easy to overlook: Notice how Paul described God here as the God of peace.
 
Now if you’ve paid attention, there are several different virtues that our God is the God of. But most of the time, He is called this – the God of peace (Romans 15:33, 16:20, Philippians 4:9,         2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20). And I think that is significant. 

You see, I don’t know if most Christians would refer to God in this one way if given the choice. We might call Him the God of love or the God of power, but the Scriptures refer to Him this way far more than any other virtue. So the question then is, why? Why is peace the primary way God is described. 

Well, when one comes to understand what peace really is, it becomes clear. You see, peace is not just some state of mental tranquility. Nor is it just an absence of war & conflict. Peace can include these things, but the peace the Scriptures reveal to us carries more of the idea of wholeness. This idea originated in the Old Testament when God revealed Himself to Gideon as “Jehovah Shalom” – the Lord is peace. 

You see, the Hebrew word shalom didn’t describe peace as we like to use it. It described “completeness, soundness, wellness, as in welfare, health, and prosperity.” It came from the root word salem which described something being perfect, complete, or whole. In fact, I love one expositor’s description of shalom as “nothing missing & nothing broken.”   

So this sounds a little bit more like the subject at hand, doesn’t it? When we speak of the God of peace, we speak of the God of wholeness, soundness, and completeness. He is not the God of brokenness, but of wholeness. In other words, He is not in the business of brokenness; He’s in the business of wholeness!  

So last week, we started looking at another example from the Gospels of a woman who was in desperate need of a touch from the Lord. Yet, this woman realized that in order for her to receive this “touch,” it wasn’t going to come by her waiting on Him to touch her; she knew she was going to have get to Him and touch Him. Of course, I am talking about the woman with the issue of blood. 

Now before we get into this story, I want to remind you of something that is very important, and it is this: With all of these accounts of healing in the Gospels, there is a reason it is in here, and it is not just for a history lesson; these things are recorded for you and I to discover three things: 

1. It’s to show us who Jesus is (i.e. how He is the Son of God and why we should believe on Him. And also, who He is in authority, power, character and personality)
2. It’s to show us how we can be more like Jesus (To learn how we can minister more like Jesus did to the sick and be more Christ-like) 
3. It’s to show us, if we are like the one being ministered to in a particular account of healing, how we can receive the healing that Jesus has for us.     

So when we read these stories of how an individual was made whole, we need to read it through this lens and make it personal to our lives.

AND SUDDENLY

Now I want us to begin looking at this familiar story of the woman with the issue of blood. This is such a powerful story that perfectly reflects how we can be made whole in our lives.  

Let’s begin by looking at Matthew’s account … 

Our story of this woman technically begins in Matthew 9:20, but I want you to notice something that is very different about her story. It begins with the following two words – “And suddenly …” 

Now by throwing this phrase in there, it shows us that something else was happening for there to be an “And suddenly.” For one, the conjunction “And” indicates that this is being tied together with whatever was just happening. Then the word “suddenly” shows us that something happened “unexpectedly.” 

You sometimes find this word “suddenly” in the Bible when, for instance, Jesus and His disciples were out on a boat in peaceful waters and then “suddenly,” a storm arose. You find it also in Acts chapter 2 when the disciples were in the upper room praying and “suddenly” there came a sound from heaven and the Holy Spirit filled the house. On another occasion in the Book of Acts, we see God sending an earthquake “suddenly” to free Paul and Silas from that Philippian prison. You get the picture, right? When the word “suddenly” is used, we are seeing an interruption in the normal course of nature. 

So this woman’s story “suddenly & unexpectedly” interrupted something. And what was that? 

Well, if you read the prior two verses, you’ll find that another story had already begun – the story of Jairus, the ruler of the Synagogue.

We see in verses 18-19, that this man came to Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” And so Jesus arose and began following him along with His disciples to this man’s house. 

And then “unexpectedly,” this woman with the issue of blood, barges into what was supposed to be Jairus’ day. Yes, she comes “out of nowhere” and gets her own miracle. 

Now you need to understand that this chain of events is very uncommon in the Scriptures. Usually when a story is started, we don’t see another story interjected in the middle of it. But this was different. And do you know why? It’s because she determined for it to be that way.      

You see, sometimes you gotta “Interrupt the Story!” What I mean by this is that there is a customary order to things and a plan that everyone expects things to go according to. And sometimes, the order and the plan need to get interrupted! Sometimes we have to do what we have to do to get our miracle like this woman did, even when it upsets the normal course of things. 

You see, there were several things that were violated in this account of healing: Number one, again Jesus was going to heal Jairus’ daughter and this woman interrupted a good thing that was supposed to happen. Number two, this woman violated the Law by being considered unclean and putting all of these people who were thronging Jesus in danger of being made unclean as well, not to mention trying to touch Jesus and risking making the Rabbi unclean! 

But here is my point: If you want to get different results than the majority, then you’re going to need to do things differently than the majority! Don’t just do things the way everyone else does—if you want different fruit than everyone else, then you need to plant differently from everyone else. 

One thing that I do when I read these accounts of healings & miracles in the Word of God is I look for the actions and characteristics of the person receiving their answer. And do you know what you see? Like in this account of the woman with the flow of blood, they were not just casually believing; no, they were aggressively believing for their miracle! Like we’ve seen already, blind men cried out to the point that the people around them were telling them to shut up (i.e. Blind Bart). In others, women followed the Lord patiently crying out for His mercy to receive a miracle for their loved ones (i.e. the Syrophoenician woman). In many of these accounts of healings, people went to extreme measures to get what they needed from the Lord and were not concerned with what people thought or what people might do.

A couple who were friends of ours had been believing God for a child and after the woman conceived their miracle, the baby was born prematurely and they were told she would not live. So the couple decided they were going to believe God, and they also decided that they were not going to let anyone in that room where they kept the child unless they were talking faith! 

Of course, this offended the family members who traveled to come see them and offer their condolences because they wouldn’t even see them. But guess what? They got their miracle! No, they were not cordial or polite, but sometimes we must decide—Do we want people to like and accept us or do we want our miracle. Sometimes, we cannot have it both ways.   

THIS WOMAN’S ISSUES

So let’s move over now to Mark’s account of this story because I like the details he gives us concerning this woman & her plight … 

Her story begins in Mark 5:25 when we are told that this woman had a “flow of blood” for twelve years.

Now this woman’s condition is not clear in terms of a modern medical diagnosis, but here are some other translations rendering: 

1. KJV- “issue of blood” 
2. TEV- “severe bleeding” 
3. NIV- “subject to bleeding” 
4. TLB as well as many others describe this as a “hemorrhage” 

Therefore, I think it’s clear that she was hemorrhaging with a woman’s issue. 

Now according to Leviticus chapter 15, a woman who has a discharge of blood from her body was considered unclean. And in order for her to be regarded as clean, the bleeding would need to stop for at least seven days. Therefore, because of this woman’s condition of continual bleeding, the woman would have lived in a constant state of uncleanness according to the Law. On top of that, anyone who touched her, anything that she laid on, and everything that she sat on was also considered unclean, and those who came into contact with these things had to wash themselves and their clothes, and be unclean themselves until evening. (see verses 19-27) 

But notice how this verse also tells us that this woman’s issue had been going on “for twelve years.” 

So picture what was going on in this woman’s life: She was considered unclean for twelve years—meaning, anyone she touched or who touched her would have been considered unclean for a certain period of time. So it stands to reason that she did not have much physical contact at all for twelve years. 

Now consider that for a moment: Can you imagine what it might be like to have no physical contact with another human being for twelve years? Not a hug, not a handshake and not even a pat on the back? That would have been psychologically taxing for anyone.

So I make this point because I think it is important for us to understand that this woman with the issue of bloods’ “issue” was not just her hemorrhaging; she would have had several other “issues” as well. 

You see, while we might not all be able to relate to this woman’s physical issue, we might have some who can relate to all of her other issues that came through it. Some of us might have also been in a situation where we didn’t have the physical contact with others that we would have liked. Some of us might have been dismissed, ignored, or rejected like this woman obviously was. 

And, church, sometimes those things can have damaging effects on our souls. In fact, I’m convinced that some people have been mortally wounded by these situations & circumstances and never quite recovered from those things. 

Friends, the Lord wants to make us whole of those “issues” as well, and the same principles that make one whole from various physical issues will work on this soulish issue as well. Amen?     

And we go on to read in Mark’s Gospel, we see that these weren’t her only issues, because notice what Mark 5:26 says, “and (she) had suffered many things from many physicians.”

Other versions of the Bible translate this phrase this way: 

1. The Jerusalem Bible – “after long and painful treatment under various doctors” 
2. The Contemporary English Version – “She had gone to many doctors, and they had not done anything except cause her a lot of pain” 
3. The Message Bible – “a long succession of physicians had treated her” 

Thank God for doctors! They are on our side! We are on the same team! Many of us would not be here if it weren’t for doctors and medicine. So we are not against them, nor should they be against us for believing in spiritual healing. 

But while we are certainly not against doctors or medicines, we should never put our full trust in doctors or medicines. We need to always remember: They are just “practicing.” They are not the true expert opinion on the subject! Therefore, we are to put our trust in God alone! 

Now this does not mean that we do not ever go to a doctor or take any medicine. We just do these things in the name of Jesus—meaning, we are doing what we believe He is leading us to do. And if He leads you to take a certain medicine, then take it in Jesus’ name—putting your focus on Him to do the work, not necessarily the medicine. 

So if the doctor tells you to have a procedure, don’t just say okay. Pray about it. Find out what the Lord will lead you to do. (Compare with Second Chronicles 16:12 – Asa’s disease in his feet and how he sought only the physicians and not the Lord) 

Mark 5:26 then goes on to say, “She had spent all that she had.” Luke’s account says, “she spent all of her livelihood” (Luke 8:43). 

It can be expensive to be sick, church. Just think about it: If we lived like the Bible tells us that we can and should (i.e. not partying, drinking, smoking, being sick, getting divorced, etc.), we would certainly have more flexibility financially, right? You know what that tells me? Things associated with the kingdom of darkness take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and certainly cost you more than you want to pay.

So even though this woman had spent all of her livelihood, doing everything she could in the natural, Mark 5:26 goes on to tell us – “and (she) was no better, but rather grew worse.” 

Boy, I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who have this same testimony. They’ve got some serious physical, mental, or emotional problems, and they have invested a lot of time and resources into being made well. However, they have gotten “no better.” On the contrary, they have “rather grown worse.” 

Again, I like the way Dr. Luke describes this: In Luke 8:43, we are told – “and could not be healed by any.” Isn’t it refreshing to hear a doctor tell us that all of these physicians “could not” heal her. 

You see, a problem with some doctors is many of them overstep their boundaries. Some will say things like, “You can’t be healed.” No, what they should say is— “I can’t get you healed.” Many will say, “You just have to accept this.” No, what they should say is— “You don’t have to accept my professional opinion.”

Now when it comes to this woman’s situation, do you know someone like this? Or better yet, is this you? If so, know this today – Sometimes it’s a good place to be when you have exhausted all your options, because then you are forced to turn completely to God or not. This lady was in a desperate situation because she had no more money to pay the physicians.

So needless to say, this woman had “issues.” And these issues were more than just the physical one. She had all of the other issues to go along with it like the obvious relationship issue of not being able to be around people or be touched by anyone for the past twelve years. She was also in financial straights because she had spent her entire livelihood on trying to get better. There’s no telling how many other “issues” this woman had either. 

So let’s now turn to what the Bible says she did. Let’s move on to Mark 5:27 and see how this woman interrupted her story … 


STEPS TOWARDS WHOLENESS 

Mark 5:27 begins by saying, “When she heard about Jesus …” 

Again, we see that this is how faith comes—by hearing. It does not come by “seeing, feeling, or experiencing;” faith only comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). 

However, notice that this Scripture does not say that she heard from Jesus (i.e. hear the Word); this Scripture says that she heard about Him. This proves that faith comes not just from hearing the Bible or the truths contained in it. No, faith also can come by simply hearing about what Jesus has done in people’s lives. This shows us the power of testimonies. They too can produce faith in people! 

So what was she hearing about Jesus that produced faith in her. Well, she was obviously hearing what she had faith for. Which was what? 

Well, this verse goes on to say, “… she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment.” And then verse 28 goes on to say, “For she said, ‘If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” 

Now let me throw this in here, that in Matthew 9:20, we are told that she “touched the hem of His garment.” The hem of His garment was where the tassels hung, which according to Numbers 15:38, were meant to remind the Jews of the Lord’s commandments contained in the Torah and to keep them from following their deceitful hearts into spiritual harlotry. 

Perhaps this woman knew this and she was symbolically showing her desire to take hold of the Word of God and take her healing! Mark 11:23-24 talks about “believing we receive when we pray,” and the word “receive” actually means “to take.” So this apparently is a big key to healing – to take it. 

But again, this was where her faith was at, which is evidenced by what she said – that if she may touch His clothes – only the hem of His garment – she would be made well. Evidently, she was hearing that people who touched His clothes, His garment, or the hem of His garment (as Luke puts it) were getting healed! Amen! You see, what we hear is absolutely important!    

Now I want you to notice how Mark 5:27 tells us that this woman “came behind” Jesus. 

Now, of course, this could have been the only way which she could get to Jesus, for as Jesus’ disciples said, the multitudes were thronging Him (Mark 5:31). But it could also have been because she was sneaking up on Him to take what she needed. The reason I believe that this latter reason is the case is because when Jesus asked who touched Him, she didn’t immediately fess up, but rather was “fearing and trembling” (Mark 5: 33). 

Again, this shows us that receiving from God is not always going to be in the way people would consider appropriate or even ethical. This woman was not even supposed to be out in the public, for she was unclean according to the law. So she did what she had to do to get to Jesus and take her healing. Amen!   

And we need to realize just how dangerous this was for her. Again, this woman was considered to be continually unclean, and whoever touched her or she touched—whether through physical contact or simply her clothing brushing up against something or someone—would be considered unclean. 

So for her to pass through this crowd—probably bumping into and touching many different people from the crowd that was thronging Jesus—was a crime punishable by death. On top of that, but Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue, was present there, and he had the authority to have her stoned. So this woman was running a great risk by doing what she did here! 

Do you know what we can learn from this? The living faith which comes by hearing will have works and actions tied together with it that will seem unorthodox or downright scary to the carnal mind. But as I always like to say, the best fruit is out on the end of the branch where there is less security and more risk. Amen! 

Now again, in Mark 5:28, we are told – “For she said …” In the Amplified version, it denotes – “she kept saying.” 

You see, sometimes, some good self-talk is necessary! Talk to your soul and tell it – “This is going to happen or that is going to happen!” This is what faith does—it says! Faith has a voice! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! So if you want to know what is in your heart in abundance, just listen to what you keep saying. 

You see, this woman kept saying, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well” because she believed in her heart that this was true. It was the hope of her heart! Therefore, it was her repetitive statement! 

So let’s consider the process of this woman’s faith here: 

1. She heard about Jesus—which is where the faith comes from according to Romans 10:17. She obviously had ears to hear about Jesus and then she took heed to what and how she was hearing about Him. 
2. Then after she heard, she acted (i.e. she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment). Faith that is alive, according to James 2:14-26, is a faith that works. You see, there is a difference between the works of faith and the works of the law. James was not talking here about doing works to get something from God. Rather, he was talking about the corresponding action of faith because we believe God has already got something for us. 
3. Finally, we are told that she said. Amen! We believe, and therefore, we speak. We believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. But notice the terminology— “for she said …” This indicates that after she heard about Jesus and faith arose in her heart that she started saying, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well!” You see, she had tried everything else; now she was saying, “if only …” And then, after she continually said this, her words drove her to her knees, and she started pressing through the crowd on the ground to get to Jesus’ clothes.   

So what happened next? Well, Mark 5:29 tells us – “Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.”

So “immediately” when this woman did what she kept saying she was going to do, she got what she said she would get. 

Church, we need to know how our faith can get us specifically what we desire. I mean, this woman kept saying that if she can just touch Jesus’ clothes she would be healed, and guess what? She got exactly that, “immediately”—feeling in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 

HE TOUCHED ME OR YE TOUCHED HE?
 
But then we see what happened next in Mark 5:30 – “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus immediately knew inside Himself that some of His power had gone out of Him and He didn’t even initiate it? I think a lot of people think Jesus was in charge of when and how much power went out of Him, but this verse teaches us something different. 

Evidently, Jesus was not the only one determining when His power was dispersed. In this case, this woman placed a demand on the healing anointing that He possessed. And I can guarantee you this – if she could do this yesterday, we can do the same today, for He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore! Amen! 

However, even though we see Jesus knowing that power had gone out of Him, we see how He asked – “Who touched me?” 

Now most Christians probably believe that Jesus knew the answer to this question, and was just asking to get the woman to identify herself, but I’m not so sure of this. I think we assume Jesus always knew everything, but we need to remember that Jesus was not operating in the omniscience of God all the time. He was still a man – a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And it was this Holy Spirit, Who revealed things to Him at times.  So I personally believe this was one of those times where Jesus didn’t have light on who it was who touched Him. 

But Jesus’ disciples didn’t have any problem believing He didn’t know either because notice what verse 31 says … “But His disciples said to Him, ‘You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ “

Notice that Jesus’ disciples thought it was a strange thing for Him to ask, “Who touched My clothes?” when there were multitudes thronging Him. In other words, there were a lot of people touching His clothes. So for Him to ask this question was perplexing to them. They were like – “Duh, a bunch of people are touching your clothes, Jesus. What do you mean?” 

What this teaches us, however, is that people can be going through the motions, doing or saying certain things, but that doesn’t mean they will all get the same results. In this situation, hundreds of people were touching Jesus, but one particular person, put a demand on the anointing, and He perceived power going out of Himself. 

So what Jesus was really asking was – “Who really touched Me?” In other words, people can say all the right things and do all the right things, and still not connect and get results. 

So a question then is this – What is the difference between how all of these other people touched Jesus and how this woman touched Him? Well, the obvious answer is – She touched Him by faith. 

You see, all of the other people (which I’m sure some of them were getting healed, but probably not all of them) were not putting a draw on the same power that this woman did or else Jesus would have not perceived power coming out of Him when she touched Him. So there was something different about this situation, and God obviously wants us to get that difference by recording this in the Scriptures.

Now in Mark’s account, Jesus said, “Who touched My clothes?” but in Luke 8:45, he said that Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?”  

Either way, touching Him or touching His clothes would have made Jesus unclean according to the Law. And we see this throughout Jesus’ ministry that things that seemed so black & white according to the Law, were oftentimes violated and transgressed. However, these times where Jesus didn’t follow the Law to a T like the religious leaders thought He should, were always in meeting the needs of a person. In other words, love always trumped their religion. 

Church, we must always strive to keep ourselves from being so dogmatic on our doctrine that we forget about the needs and desires of other people. People are what are important to God, not our strict adherence to the Law or the Bible. Sure, we should not err on the side of violating the Word, but if it comes between loving people or loving our doctrine, people are more important.  

Now I think it is very interesting that a major point in this account of healing was “touching”… The woman said that if she could just touch his clothes she would be made well and Jesus spun around and asked “Who touched Me?” All of this was happening when her particular affliction had doomed her to not touching anyone or even touching anything that would touch their clothing. This shows me that what she did to take her healing was such a huge step of faith. Even to the point that she had to do something that the Law indicated was “unclean.” Amen!

Then in Mark 5:32-33, we see what Jesus did next – “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.”

So at this point, when Jesus looked around and saw this woman, he apparently then knew it was her. And then she, fearing and trembling, fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 

I think it is interesting to see how this woman reacted after receiving her healing ...

First of all, notice that she was “fearing and trembling.” Of course, this is referring to the fear she must have had of potentially being stoned for breaking God’s law and going into public, touching whoever she had to in order to get to Jesus. 

But I want us to look at it from another perspective—notice that this verse says that she was fearing and trembling knowing what had happened to her. This speaks volumes to me, and portrays the heart of so many Christians … 

You see, so many feel they are asking too much of God at times or they are irritating Him in some way. And I’m sure this woman thought she had upset the Lord by “cutting in line” and getting what she needed without asking first. But notice the Lord did not rebuke her for this or even acknowledge how she did what she did in any way. He just simply said, “Go in peace.” I just believe the Lord loves it when His people receive from Him, however that looks. 

Then notice that she “came and fell down before Him …” 

This, to me, shows this woman’s heart. She didn’t run from Him; she ran to Him. Friends, we must learn to always do this. When everything in our emotions is telling us that we missed it and made a mistake, run to the Lord and fall down before Him—trusting in His mercy and His grace. Amen! 

Finally, notice that she “told Him the whole truth.” She didn’t tell Him a half truth or start making excuses as to why she did what she did. She simply told Him the “whole truth.” Friends, walking in truth is a major key to being set free. It is when we cover our mistakes and weaknesses that the Lord cannot free us from them. 

You see, there’s something to be said for being a person who is humble & transparent enough to tell the whole truth. I think most people like staying in the darkness and not fully disclosing everything that they have been through. And I get it – it’s hard to trust that people won’t look at us differently afterwards or that they won’t use that information to tear us down. But there is power in not hiding these things and putting them out there. I mean, how can we get healing of something that we aren’t willing to bring to the surface. And the fact is, a lot of people have either had things done to them or have done things to others that have never been talked about. And these things can very well be a major hindrance to what we see Jesus saying next to this woman …

Mark 5:34 says, “And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

This one truth right here completely counters so much popular theology: Notice that Jesus said out of His own mouth that it was not His power that made this woman well; He said her own faith was what made her well! If this seems strange to you, let’s look at a few other things that Jesus said to those who came to receive from Him:

1. Mark 10:52- The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus- “your faith has made you well”
2. Matthew 8:13- The Healing of the Centurion’s Servant- “as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” 
3. Matthew 9:29- The Healing of the Two Blind Men- “according to your faith let it be to you”

So here we have three other witnesses (all out of Jesus’ own mouth I might add) that clearly show us that it is one’s own faith that heals them, not God’s. Now, of course, this does not mean that we are not healed by means of the power and     anointing of God. That should go without saying. But the truth is that since Jesus, the grace of God Himself, has come, it is our faith that simply receives that power and anointing that has already been given by God’s grace. 

Understanding this is     the key to learning how to receive our healing from the Lord. We are not waiting on God. We are not looking for Him to do it. No, we are believing in what He has     already done and expecting to receive it by faith & hope.         

HOW TO CHANGE THE NARRATIVE

So this is a great time to change the narrative that you might have been on for however long you’ve been going through whatever it is that you have. Yes, you can interrupt your current story and put a final chapter to it. 

So in closing, let’s look at a few ways that we can interrupt our story and change this narrative of our lives. And I want to do this by looking at the beginning lines of a few of our popular novels …

Now one of the most well known books in our nation’s history is the one called Moby Dick written by Herman Melville. And does anyone know what the opening three words are of this famous book? It is “Call me Ishmael.” 

Of course, this opening line of this classic novel is one of the most iconic and memorable in literature. This simple yet powerful sentence introduces the novel's narrator and sets the stage for the story to unfold. But I think it illustrates something that some people do that has caused their story to unfold … 

You see, some of us have had them written because of a certain identity. Like Moby Dick begins with “Call me Ishmael,” some of our lives have gone a certain course because of what we call ourselves. Yes, our identity has determined our reality, which has produced our story. 

Abram & Sarai are a great example of this. Coming from a pagan lifestyle, they were called to leave their hometown and live a life of faith, following this new God. They were even given promises from Him of how He was going to bless them. 

But even with these promises, it was a constant state of wandering for them as “they dwelt in the land of promise as strangers” (Hebrews 11:9).  

Then God changed their names – changing Abram’s name to Abraham, meaning “the father of many nations,” and changing Sarai’s name to Sarah, meaning “a Princess.” And when God changed their names, everything changed! This is when they conceived the promise that they had for 25 years. 

So what we see in this story is that when there was a name change, this is when there was a life change. This is when the promises of God become conceived – when we change our identity. 

If that’s you, it’s time to interrupt your story. Yes, some of us might need to say, “Don’t call me Ishmael anymore. Call me Isaac.” 

Now some of our stories have been written because of certain attitudes, mindsets, and mentalities …

Most of us can quote that iconic opening line of Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities – “It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times.”  

That reminds me of one of those glass half full / glass half empty kind of statements that a lot of people like to make. You see, some people will look at their situation as the best of times while others will look at them as the worst of times. 

Did you know that a lot of times our stories have gone the way they have simply because of how we see things? Two people can walk through very similar circumstances and one can see it as the worst of times and the other can see it as the best of times. It’s not that their situations are all that much different, but the way they view it is completely different. 

For example, it might be two people get laid off from their job. Well, one person might view it with that glass half empty kind of mentality and say in their heart, “This is so terrible! What am I going to do? I’m going to lose everything! I can’t believe they did this to me! I’ll never forgive them!” However, the other person might have that glass half full mentality and have a totally different perspective like – “Well, I guess God has something better for me. His plan is always perfect. I will choose to trust Him. Who knows why my employer laid me off. Perhaps things were tough on their end and they had to make some really tough decisions. I bless them and trust God’s blessing on me.”

I know those are two polar-opposite responses, but they can greatly determine our future. And I can guarantee you that there are a lot of people who respond to things they are dealt in life with terrible attitudes & mindsets, and it set them on a course that they’ve never recovered from. If that’s you, it’s time to interrupt your story. 

A less familiar opening line of a Book is what was being announced on the streets of London in the book series The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It reads – “The King is dead. Long live the Queen.” 

This reminds me of the opening words of the Book of Joshua that read – “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: ‘Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel.’” (Joshua 1:1-2).
 
Now I want you to notice what the Lord apparently had to say to Joshua here. Now we can only speculate on what was going on here, but there is the likelihood that Joshua, and all the rest of the children of Israel for that matter, were grieving over the death of Moses. I mean, he was their Deliverer (i.e. Savior) and was used by God to be the one who connected them with Him. 

So when he died, I can all but guarantee you that there was a difficult time moving on. There was likely an unusual amount of grief & mourning, coupled together with hopelessness and despair because after all, who could fill Moses’ shoes? 

So that’s the context of this story of Joshua, and why God had to tell him – “The King is dead.” But at the same time, the Lord told Joshua – “Long live the Queen.” 
Of course, I’m referring to the fact that it’s time to move on and go on into the next phase of God’s plan to possess the Promised Land. 

Do you think that might be God’s Word to some of us here today? Again, if this is you, then it’s time to interrupt your story. Yes, it’s time to move on from that person, place, or thing that is now dead and “arise and go over this Jordan” to possess our Promised Land. I’d be willing to bet a pretty penny that the Lord is saying this very same thing to some of you today. 

Church, whatever it may be that has caused our story to be written like it has, know today that it is possible to erase the past and see a new narrative written in your life. Yes, you can see it changed, like this woman with the issue of blood did, to have a “happy ending” rather than the sad, less than desirable continual repeating of history that has plagued your life – and this will happen as we do one or more of the following: 

1. Change our Identity.
2. Change our Attitude or Mindset.
3. Move on from the Past. 

Write your own happy ending today, church. Amen!