Not Unnoticed

Isn't God good to work in our hearts through unlikely ways? He took my pain from 2 posts before this one, and has stirred the hearts of different people in different ways. I have had several people message me and say that they,too, are suffering from long term illness that they haven't shared with others in the past. A couple of those took that post as courage to share their hidden pain with their friends or just with me personally. I have had a few people say that God has stirred their hearts to pay more attention to the people around them. I am one of those people, too. I have had one say they see that they need to take better care of themselves because they are headed down the same road I am on if they don't. I pray for all of us that our hearts stay stirred in obedience to whatever He has called us to individually in response. For me, personally, one response has been to begin to not only pay attention to the people God puts before me, but to ask people and to be diligent to pray for them for an extended period of time; not just in the few min. or few days when they first express a need.

So many people are hurting and need our care and help. As Christians it is not only an obedient response, but also a privilege and a blessing to give the help God nudges us to give. But, we must listen. If we don't listen, if we don't have ears to hear, if we don't heed that whisper, then we cannot love others they way He would have us to.

Hebrews 6: ⁹ But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. ¹¹ And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Think it's a coincidence that today I picked a book back up after a week or two, and this was God's Word today? If you are suffering, especially from a long term illness, listen! God wants someone to hear this.

Commentary on Luke 8:40-56
"For both Jairus and the woman in the crowd Jesus was literally their last hope. Who else could heal from the throes of death? And who else could cure what countless doctors had failed to cure, especially with out pay? Jesus was their only hope.

.....Don't you think it's interesting that the woman suffered her infirmity for the same length of time that Jairus' child had been alive? Ask anyone who has suffered with a chronic ailment how much focus it commands, and she'll tell you she struggles to focus on anything else. Ask any set of parents how much they focus on their one and only child, and they'll likely tell you the same thing. Have you struggled for a long time with some difficulty? I absolutely do not want to minimize your suffering when I tell you that Jesus specializes in the long term and the hopeless.

We read in verse 42 that the crowd pressed so closely to Jesus they were almost crushing Him. Yet a woman behind Him touched only the edge of His cloak, and He discerned the difference. Please keep in mind, she never even touched His skin. Amazing! Notice that when Christ asked, "Who touched me?" they all denied it. .....Did they not realize He wanted few things more than for them to reach out to Him?

When the woman realized that she "could not go unnoticed, " she "came trembling and fell at his feet" (v.47). Beloved, no one goes unnoticed by Christ, least of all, a person acting on faith. I love the fact that the woman came trembling, even though she had exercised enough faith to draw forth the healing power of Jesus. It's good to know that the faithful still come trembling. In fact, their reverence is a critical part of their faith. The truly believing will most certainly also be the bowing.

.....Verse 42 tells us Jesus was on His way to heal the dying child when the woman in the crowd touched the edge of His cloak. Christ Himself described what happened: "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me" (v.46). The primary point I want to make is that Christ released enough power to heal a woman of a twelve-year hemorrhage but still had plenty to raise Jairus's daughter from the dead! Let that sink in! I know you know it with your head but I want you to receive it in your heart. Christ's power supply is limitless.

......Does he seem to be on His way to another need, one that you perceive may be more important than yours? More a matter of life and death? No problem! Reach out and grab that hem! You are not going unnoticed--not even if He's on His way to raise the dead!

...Think of people who you recognize as being at their last hope. Now beloved, what is your greatest need, the deepest desire of your heart? Don't tell me how trivial they seem in comparison! Consider your list carefully. Now I want you to say out loud: "Jesus, You have enough power."

Oh, friend, would you dare to believe that He is completely able? If He doesn't grant you what you ask in faith, it is never because He lacks the power. I believe it's because He wants to release an all-surpassing power and reveal an even greater glory through another answer. Will we laugh at the thought like the foolish mourners outside Jairus's home? Or will we be invited into the house to behold a miracle?" (Jesus, The One and Only by Beth Moore)