When the Soul Bleeds - Girlfriends in God

September 28, 2015
When the Soul Bleeds
Sharon Jaynes

Today‘s Truth

[Jesus said to the woman] “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34 NIV).

Friend to Friend

When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years in Mark chapter five, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus’ day. It is simply unthinkable today, but I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.

From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.

When Beth was walking to her dorm room from the college library, a lurker jumped from behind the bushes, dragged her to a nearby shed, and raped her at knife-point. Now, ten years later, her heart bleeds.

After 20 years of marriage, Lucy accidentally stumbled upon a local hotel receipt in her husband’s wallet. Suspecting the worse, she uncovered past e-mails, supposed business meetings that never occurred and a trail of deceit. When presented with the evidence, her husband admitted having a three-year long affair. And her heart bleeds.

Margaret’s routine physical reveals that she has AIDS. She had only been with one man her entire life…her husband. And her heart bleeds.

Laura was laid off from her job and her mother’s words re-emerge like sewage leakage from an underground septic tank. “You’re no good. You’ll never amount to anything. You’re a loser just like your father.” And because of the lies she believes, her heart bleeds.

Melissa holds her newborn little girl in her arms and coos her to sleep. Interrupting the sweetness of the wee-hours of the morning, she hears her aborted child crying from the grave. Guilt presses down as the ever-present weight deflates her joy. And her heart bleeds.

Women hoping the pain will go away. Awakening each day with a memory that re-opens an old wound. Women longing to hear the words “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

The woman with the issue of blood was no different from you and me. While her apparent illness was physical, her inward suffering ruled her life, but in one radical moment, one momentous decision, she reached out to Jesus and grabbed hold of her healing.

He wants to set us free from our suffering, but He will not push us out of the cell. He unlocks the jail cell, but we must walk out the door. We can choose to bleed. We can choose to remain in our suffering and pick at the scabs of the past, but hear me dear friend, it is a choice. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV). That’s what he wants for each of us. But we have to embrace the truth and, like the woman with the 12-year-bleeding, reach for our healing.

Jesus said to the woman, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

That’s the same healing He offers to you and to me. Today, I encourage you to reach for your healing. Jesus is passing by.

Let’s Pray

Dear God, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Today, I reach forward and receive my healing. Yes, I want to get well—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Please give me the faith to walk in freedom and victory.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen

Now It’s Your Turn

Is your soul bleeding today? Do you know someone else who would answer, “yes”?

What does Jesus tell us in Mark 11:28?

Are you ready to give that burden of a hurting heart to Jesus? He is willing to stop everything to say these words to you: Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

More from the Girlfriends

Today’s devotion was taken from my book, How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set you Free: A Woman’s Walk in Power and Purpose. We tend to read the gospels through the lens of the 21^st century. But when we understand how oppressive the culture Jesus stepped into was against women, and how He broke a cultural rule every time He came in contact with a woman in the New Testament, we begin to understand just how radical His ministry, messages, and miracles were at setting women free. He risked His reputation to save theirs…and yours. How Jesus Broke the Rules to Set You Free: A Woman’s Walk in Power and Purpose, is now available on Amazon.com and www.sharonjaynes.com. (Previously titled What God Really Thinks about Women.) By taking an in-depth look at how Jesus crossed cultural boundaries to honor women, you’ll fall in love with Him all over again and have the confidence to walk in the power and purpose God intended. Bible study guide is included.