And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. (Luke 8:43).
A British couple from Hong Kong came to see Norman Vincent Peale. They told him about the woman’s difficulty with her pituitary gland. During X-ray treatments, she sustained serious damage to her brain. This slowed her mental activity and made her unable to communicate normally. A neurosurgeon corrected the condition so that she regained the ability to talk and read, but her mental capacity was that of a twelve-year-old.
They showed the minister some paintings done in Chinese style on long strips of paper-backed silk. They were beautiful, delicate, and serene. When asked who did them, her husband proudly answered that she had painted them. Even though she had no formal training, her paintings were amazing.
She said, “I asked God to deliver me from my unhappy situation into a new life. And he generously gave me the soul and skill of a painter.”
Reflecting on this incident, Peale commented, “There are no hopeless situations. I’ll admit there are people who are hopeless about situations.”
The woman in our story today could have given in to her feelings of hopelessness, her sense of desperation. Instead, she pressed on to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and was healed.
If you are feeling hopeless about your situation, don’t give up. You can face the worst the world throws at you if you keep looking to God with hope and confidence.
Put your hope in God.
Ron McClung is a recently retired minister in The Wesleyan Church. He and his wife, Carol, live in Michigan and look forward to spending time with their two sons, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
© 2022 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
