Your Name Is DaughterSample

Day 2: Position Over Condition

What if you were known by your problems, instead of your name? That would be zero fun. But that’s what we have when it comes to a woman in Mark 5. We know her as The Bleeding Woman. That’s her name to us.

We also know that she has been to doctor after doctor and instead of getting better, she is getting worse. Another thing we know? She has spent everything. This woman is financially, socially, and emotionally penniless. She has nothing left to lose. So she reaches out to touch Jesus’s shirt, believing He could make her well.

And He does!

But I wonder, if in that moment of miraculous physical healing, if there was a bigger miracle going on.

When she touches his cloak, Jesus stops. And He wants to find her. He wants to have a word with her. Actually, He has a name for her. He looks right at her and says, “Daughter.”

Could the most healing, freeing, anxiety-shattering, peace-bringing moment have been when Jesus called her Daughter? Even more than her physical healing, could being noticed and named, seen and sought, called and claimed have been the most restoring moment of her life?

Jesus didn’t just restore her from something; He restored her to Someone. He restored her to her Heavenly Father. To the family of God. To Sunday Dinner and to all the aunts and uncles and cousins and privileges of being in the family. In a society where family was the hub of society, and the father was responsible to provide and protect every member of his house, this was a big deal. Being your Father’s daughter means you are fully cared for and protected. She was called back home where she belongs.

She is no longer defined by her condition, she is now defined by her position. And that can never change, no matter what changes in her life. Her name is Daughter and that cannot be taken from her.

Prayer for today: God, thank you that I am defined by my position, not my condition. You are good and you are my healing and protecting Abba. Amen.