Unnoticed. Have you ever wanted to go unnoticed. I certainly have!
Life in a small town doesn’t allow for anonymity. When I step out of my home there will be at least one person who hails me by name.
At the post office I hear, “Mawnin, Mrs Sharp!” At the market someone yells, “Hi, Miss Alida!” Even those who cannot remember my name want to make a connection. “Aren’t you Tom’s wife?” “You’re the lady who works with Miss Diana.” “You’re the one on TV with Ms Andrea!”
I simply cannot go unnoticed.
The bible passage that’s been on my heart is from Luke.
It’s the story of a woman who tried to go unnoticed.
Luke 8:43-48 says,It’s the story of a woman who tried to go unnoticed.
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.
“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed.
Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
Desperate for healing, yet avoiding a face to face encounter with Christ, she stealthily maneuvered through the horde of people to sneak up behind Jesus. Reaching out her hand with the only asset she had left, faith, she touched the edge of His clothing. Instantaneously healing came.
One touch ended 12 years of suffering, 12 years of spending all that she had, 12 years of not being clean in the eyes of her culture.
From bankrupt to blessed in a solitary moment!
It’s interesting to me that she tried to hide from Jesus. Even more interesting is that He called her out.
Who touched me? No one came forward.
Peter points out to Jesus that there is a large crowd. But that didn’t matter. He knew that someone had touched Him. And He knew that person was trying to hide.
Sometimes we just want relief from our pain. Sometimes we just want results.
But Christ wants relationship.
We are made whole through relationship. She had to come forward. She had to get right with Him.
Trembling with fear she came out of her hiding place within the crowd. Flinging herself at the feet of Jesus she confessed what she had done.
After she acknowledged what had taken place God lovingly and compassionately restored her dignity by commending her faith and releasing her from the presence of the onlookers to “Go in peace”.
As a result of her choice to get right with God, not only was she blessed with healing, she was also blessed with peace.
Right standing with God brings us a peace that passes understanding.
To have peace is have tranquility. Wholeness.
When we willingly surrender, confess, and testify at the feet of Christ He completes our healing with wholeness.
I confess that I am like this woman. I just want God to answer my prayer so I can go on my way.
I confess that I have valued results over relationship.
I confess that there have been times when I didn’t want to testify publicly about what God taught me through my brokenness, healing, and restoration. I didn’t want to acknowledge my imperfections so I kept quiet. And then felt remorse on the drive home.
God, sometimes gently, sometimes loudly, sometimes in front of a crowd, calls us into relationship with Him in order for us to experience the abundant life He came to give us.
He sees you.
He is calling out to you.
He is waiting for you to come into a face to face relationship with him.
He wants to bless you with peace.
He wants to make you whole.
Are you hiding from God? Has He called you out?
You, my friend, cannot go unnoticed!
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