Fresh StartSample

Make the First Move

Luke recorded an incident where Jesus was on His way to a synagogue leader’s house and was surrounded by a huge crowd. Despite the crowd, a woman who had suffered from a bleeding condition for 12 years came through, touched the edge of Jesus’ cloak, and was healed (Luke 8:43-44).

Let’s step into the shoes of the bleeding woman for a moment. There could be numerous reasons for her to not reach out to Jesus: the pressure of the huge crowd surrounding Him; the sense of inferiority from her ritual uncleanness; the fear of disappointment if she was not healed, and so on.

Yet despite all these obstacles and risks, the woman took the first step to approach Jesus and was immediately healed.

Most of our day-to-day problems are probably less severe than the bleeding woman’s condition. But how willing are you to make the first move to approach God for help? Similarly, there could be numerous excuses not to do so, such as “my problem is too trivial”, “my problem is too big”, “I don’t want to be disappointed…” Beneath these thoughts is a struggle of trust – whether you truly trust that God is powerful enough to handle the biggest things and loving enough to care for you in the smallest.

After the woman was healed, Jesus asked who touched Him. This gave the woman a chance to admit her action and testify Jesus’ power publicly (Luke 8:45-48). Jesus’ question was not for His own sake but for hers, so her trust in Him could be affirmed and her faith strengthened.

Have you ever had something hold you back from making the first move to reach out to God? Are there areas in your life where you can trust God more? God desires us to trust Him and lean into Him in all circumstances. Not just to resolve our problems, but also to strengthen our faith in Him.

Take some time today to list out those areas where you lack trust. Then consider one way you can ask God to help in those areas.