Live to matter

I felt tears well up in my eyes.  My friend was sharing an experience with our small group.  We were discussing caring for other people.  She quietly shared about a little girl living in an unfortunate situation and how she and her church has shared with the little girl.  My friend has long since lost track of the little girl but I was moved.  I knew that for the few months those people were in that  little girl's life it made a difference.

Jesus made a difference in, what we would label, an insignificant woman's life.  In Chapter 5, verses 21-34, Mark relates the story of Jesus showing this woman and those in the crowd that she indeed mattered.

Jesus had again crossed over the lake and was met by a large crowd.  A synagogue ruler approached Jesus and asked Him to come to his home and touch his sick daughter.  So Jesus set out for this man's home.  Jesus had a destination.

In the crowd was a sick woman.  She'd been ill with a bleeding condition for 12 years.  This illness had drained her finances.  She spent her wealth on many doctors with no cure.  She had heard about Jesus and felt that if she could merely touch His cloak she would be healed.  So she moved through the large crowd, came close enough, reached out and touched Him.  And it worked.  She was healed immediately!

Jesus knew.  He turned and asked who touched Him.  The disciples pointed out that He was in the midst of a huge crowd so lots of people had touched Him.  Jesus knew one significant person had touched Him and had been changed.  So He asked again.  The woman realized she would not go unnoticed (as it is stated in Luke 8:47) and trembling she fell at His feet and told Him the whole truth.

Jesus called her "Daughter" and then reminded her that her faith had healed her.  He told her to go in peace and be free of suffering.

This large crowd saw and heard this miracle.  The crowd saw their version of an insignificant woman transformed into one who mattered to the All Knowing One.

We live in a world of extremes.  We strive to matter.  Too often the philosophy of selfishness and "it's all about me"  controls our life.  Or we feel so insignificant that we lose hope. When circumstances burden, we think we don't matter enough to God.

The story of this sick woman reminds me that I am significant to God. In the crowd of those around me and in the world, He knows me!  He cares about me and my life journey.  His way offers me peace and freedom.

My friend's story reminds me that God uses me to show others that the All Knowing One knows them and their situation.  I have the opportunity, as I travel through my life, to touch lives to bring Him glory and to make a difference.  I can't get so focused on my destination that I miss the work of God in changing lives around me.   I am significant and at the same time, I am a part of a huge crowd of others equally significant to Him. He knows me and He knows All.