Hey Champions!

We just started preaching a new series at our church entitled Be the One. I felt led to share that with you in this week’s blog.

The story begins in Mark 5:24-34 where you see Jesus and the woman with an issue of blood crossing each other’s path. If you remember the story, this woman had an issue of blood for twelve years. She had done everything she knew to do. She had been to every doctor possible, and she had spent all her money doing so. This woman had gone to great lengths to find a way to be healed of this plague.

You might feel this way with things you are going through in life. Maybe you’ve tried everything you know to do, you’ve been to every doctor, or you work two jobs just to make it. You have moved several times to make new friends, only to find out that it didn’t work again this time. You’ve been to every counselor in the book, and you are still not happy. It seems like you are at a dead-end street. I think we all go through one of these situations at some point in our lives.

The Bible even states the woman was dealing with a “plague.” This word comes from the Greek word, mastigos, which means torture. It’s like a person beating another person, allowing them to mend, and then beating them again - keeping their subjects in constant pain. This had been this woman’s life for 12 years. This is also a tactic Satan likes to use on us. He likes to push us past our limits until we just completely give up on believing God. See, his whole purpose is not so much the pain or hurt we are in, but his purpose is to draw us away from believing in God. If Satan can make us believe this lie, he has won!

Now, let’s go back to the story of the woman. This is the place she was in her life: alone, scared, no hope, and she lost all her family and friends. She had done all she knew to do, but instead of getting better, she had grown worse… until the day she heard of Jesus. This gave her hope!  She moved from hopelessness to hope, from not knowing what to do to knowing. Just like He was for this woman, Jesus is our hope!  We may feel we are at the end of our rope, and we have tried everything. Don’t give up, we still have one more step to take - trust in Jesus. Keep pressing forward just like the woman with the issue of blood. She didn’t give up, she kept pressing forward through the crowd, in her faith in Jesus.

We must do the same thing this woman did. We must not rely on faith in what we can do but have faith in what Jesus has already done. When Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could live for eternity in covenant with Him, He provided all. He provided salvation! In that salvation is peace, joy, health, and prosperity. All of these avenues in our lives are provided when we accepted Him, but we must keep pressing into Him! Just as the woman with issue of blood pressed through the crowd, we have to press through our situations. We have to hear about Jesus (keep the Word of God before our eyes) and keep pressing through. Keep pressing through your “crowd” to the answer - Jesus.  

This week, I encourage you to find a scripture that deals with your situation and press through the “crowd” with that scripture. If it's healing, then grab ahold of the hope found in Isaiah that states, “by His stripes we are healed.” Press through speaking the Word of God over yourself and your situation. You may be to the place you feel like giving up, but don’t do it!  Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith, and press through.

- Coach Brim