Jan 17
Today’s Truth
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34 NIV).
Friend to Friend
I went to bed, pulled the covers over my head, and had a big ole pity party. Once again, I had 
been rejected…come in second place…told I wasn’t quite what “they” were looking for. The scarlet letter loomed large. It wasn’t an A like Hester Prynne’s in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book I had to read in high school, but a big fat R that I chose to wear when life turned ugly.
There was a woman in the Bible who understood rejection too. You probably know her as “the woman with the issue of blood.” Mark 5:25-34 tells her story and lets us know that she had been suffering for 12 years. During that time, she had been rejected by her family and friends, and drained financially and physically.
I see so many of us in her eyes. What woman among us hasn’t felt the wretchedness of rejection and the humility of hopelessness? What woman among us hasn’t felt she was less than because of certain circumstances in her life? What woman hasn’t wondered; Would God even care about the likes of me? She felt all that and more.
This woman was defined by what was wrong with her: “the woman with the issue of blood.” Perhaps you’ve felt that way a time or two in your life. Defined by what’s wrong with you, at least in your own mind. We tend to compare what we know to be wrong about ourselves with what we don’t know to be wrong with others. Let me just give you a hug right now and remind you, we’ve all got something. Resist the tendency to define yourself by what you imagine to be wrong with you and embrace the truth of what God says is right with you.
In Biblical days, certain situations and conditions rendered a person ceremonially unclean. A woman was considered unclean during her monthly cycle. That means the person is untouchable. Let that sink in for a moment.
Sometimes we can feel the same. Abandoned by friends. Deserted by a spouse. Forgotten by family. Unseen by society. But she was not forgotten. She was not alone. This daughter of Abraham was close to God’s heart and foremost on His mind. So God the Father orchestrated His Son’s journey to pass her way.
The woman broke all the rules when she heard Jesus was coming. She pressed through the crowd and reached for the hem of His garment. Immediately, she was healed. She felt it. The power left Jesus. He knew it.
Mark wrote:
“But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:32-34 NIV).
“Daughter, your faith has healed you.” Sometimes one single word in Scripture speaks volumes. Daughter was a term of endearment she would not easily forget. No matter what you’ve been through, or what you will go through in the future, hang on to this truth: You are God’s daughter whom He loves.
Mark 5:25-34 reminds us just how much God values and esteems His female image bearers. He singled out one lone woman from a crowd of curiosity seekers, healed her physically and spiritually, and then placed her center stage to tell about it during a time in history when women weren’t even allowed to testify in court or speak to men in public.
As with this particular woman and the others we meet in the New Testament, Jesus viewed women’s needs as portals through which deeper spiritual needs might be met. He ministered to their immediate needs and gave them an eternal perspective and great significance. Just as He does for me and you…His daughters…and ours.
When we feel rejected by the world, we can remember that we have been selected by God. You have been chosen…handpicked…never less than.
Let’s Pray
Lord, I know that rejection is just part of life. When I feel second best, help me to remember that I am the apple of Your eye, and that’s all that really matters. My significance is found in You.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Go back and read Mark 5. Who was the other person that Jesus also healed in that chapter? Note how long the woman had been suffering. Note how long the little girl had been living. What does that say to you about Jesus that He cares for both?
More from the Girlfriends
Sharon’s book, How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set You Free has been revised and updated! The new title is NEVER LESS THAN: Living Esteemed, Empowered, and Equipped When the World Tells You Otherwise. If you’ve ever felt less than because of your past, your present circumstances, or your gender as a woman then this book is for you! This is a message that your daughters and granddaughters need to hear. Click here to learn more. Click here for a FREE download of 25 Ways Jesus Honored Women.
© 2022 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.
I am never rejected.
I needed to hear this today. It was confirmation for me. I am dealing with rejection and this reminds me I am chosen. I am selected. I thank you for this today.
Chosen! Yes you are!
I have felt rejected many times… God has helped me thru it but many times it rates its ugly head in my life…..and all those feelings come back. Thanks for this devotion !
You are welcome!
Sharon, you did an excellent job of uplifting God’s daughters today. I will respond by asking, using your repeated questioning phrase: [What woman among us] isn’t cheered and encouraged by these words?
Do I often feel rejected? I feel it’s more like I’m left out of things—not included in discussions, social events, inside information, things others are “in the know” about—than being rejected outright. Really, I think much of my feeling is how I imagine things are due to my, yes, lower self-worth, seeing myself as less interesting or popular or well-informed…any number of things that may or may not even be true! Classic, right? Actually, I have a lot to contribute, and I often do, yet somehow I feel I’m on the outside looking in.
I’ve always been rather an introvert. That doesn’t help at all! I can illustrate how I feel by saying there’s a parade passing by but I can’t see much of it because I’m behind too many people who are much taller than me, a little girl; I’m jumping up as high as I can, but I only get glimpses of the colorful floats floating by or the brightly shining brass instruments of the marching band whose stirring music I hear.
You know, ladies, I suspect that even the “popular” girls who seem to have the highest regard for themselves have some of the same feelings. I think all of us have higher standards or demands on ourselves than we’re able to reach. No wonder we’re “stressed out” so often! We look for our value in all the wrong places. I’m going to try to remember that my value is in God’s eyes. I know that; I’ve known that. I just need to keep reminding myself of it—often!
Such a good comment!
This is the ONLY place in Jesus ministry that he calls a woman, “Daughter” and such a significant passage for me. When my only sister died of cancer,I had prayed this portion of scripture over and over for 6 months . I was sure He was going to heal her, she had little children to raise as a single mom. But she died.
Then, in my mourning God showed me that the story of “the woman with the issue of blood” was not complete, but a “story within a story” as Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus’ daughter when he healed this Daughter. He then went on for “the rest of the story” to raise the little girl, the other daughter, from the dead. My sister was not healed in her physical body for this world, but Jesus would raise her from the dead, she has new life in the next. She is in her real home in heaven. The only things that really matter in this world are the things done for eternity.
On that day, thirty years ago this month, I decided to live every moment of my life for eternity, for those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
I love that.
We are called and chosen for sacred assignments!
We are all God’s workmanship created to do good work that He planned BEFOREHAND that we should do. Does that just blow your mind.
Such precious words you shared, Lynn, of an intimate part of your life. The story of the little girl raised from the dead is one of the “golden” passages of the Gospel to me. “Talitha Koume,” Jesus said. “Little girl, I tell you, rise!” How wonderful is that intimate moment to imagine and how wonderful, too, to apply those tender yet powerful words to our lives as well.
Thanks for sharing.
Dennia,
Thank you for reminding me of what exactly those words mean, “Talitha koume” is indeed “golden” for me too.
My sister endured 19 years in an abusive marriage, she finally managed to escape and got cancer. (Which I really believe was the end result of all those years of abuse…not a doctor but just my opinion.)
I think maybe she was just too damaged in her fragile human body and mind, so Jesus allowed her to go home and rose her to life in the next. I CAN imagine that beautiful intimate moment in my minds eye, and it gives me such peace and comfort for her and for us all.
God bless you.
Lynn
Ohhhhh JESUS, it’s nice to know!!!!!