Luke 8:45-48
And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.  And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.  And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

Jesus could discern this woman’s faith-filled touch on the border of His garment among the thronging multitude of people.  People were pushing toward Him, reaching, trying to get close.  Many must have bumped Him, brushed against Him, touched Him somehow.  But none had reached in faith like this woman.  None had reached with her purpose and her certainty that one touch would change her life.

But why had she reached forward, knowing within her a touch of Jesus would make all the difference?  She touched Him because she was suffering, desperate, and out of options.  She touched Him because He had power, mercy, and that virtue within Him.  She touched Him because she had faith.  She touched Him because He was near and she knew she needed something from Him that she couldn’t get anywhere else.  She touched Him because she knew it would make a difference.

But would she have touched Him just then in a kind of desperate, last-ditch effort if she had not struggled for those 12 years, remaining unwhole no matter what she did?  Would she have been so sure of her need for Jesus if she hadn’t first come to the end of herself?  There are all kinds of things that can drive us to Jesus with the same fervor with which this woman sought Him.  Maybe it is a physical ailment or an emotional crisis or an unbearable tragedy.  Maybe it’s nothing bad at all.  But the most important thing is that we come to a place where we recognize our absolute need for Jesus alone.

It may be a trembling hand that we reach with, but what is the result of reaching out to Jesus in faith?  Was the woman chastised and sent way the same as she had come?  She may have been afraid of that happening, but what happened instead was that she was made whole and sent away with Jesus’ bidding of peace upon her.  So can’t we expect when we come in faith that Jesus will respond to us in some way, that He will recognize our faith and that it will draw out from Him exactly what we need to be whole?  May we be willing, then, to reach out in faith to Jesus alone for all that we need.