Grieving Our Hard Stories - a 6-Day Devotional on Living GriefSample

That Day In the Crowd

She made her way through the masses. It wasn’t an ordinary day in the Roman city of Caesarea Philippi. Jesus was in town, and the streets were flooded with people.

We don’t even know her name. All we know is she had been bleeding for twelve years and that all of her money had been spent on doctors who had not helped her. Culturally, she was considered unclean, and that status would have left her lonely, poor, and isolated. While she battled the grief and agony of her disease, she would have also been deep in sorrow for the life she longed for.

I imagine her. Isolated in a room. Alone in her sorrow. Was there a window? A bed? Did anyone ever check in on her?

Grief is not an experience reserved for death. It’s the human response to loss. And our sister, bleeding for twelve years, had lost so much.

How did she know Jesus was near? Did she sense Him? Somehow, even in the heaviness of grief and the trauma of her illness, she mustered the strength to find Him.

My Bible tells me in Matthew 9:21, she thought, If I just touch the hem of His garment, I will be healed.

Faith. It's what motivated her. Faith rooted in Hope and covered in courage.

But Jesus

She reached for Him. The Bible tells us, “Jesus immediately felt power leave Him, and He turned. Looking for her. “Who touched me?” He asked.

I imagine His voice was gentle. The ears of my heart hear His love. He knew who touched Him. He always knows. His eyes met hers as He combed the crowd for His hurting child. Others would not have seen her sorrow. But Jesus did. He knows grief when He sees it.

And then, after a brief exchange, Jesus heals her and sets her free. In a beautiful display of compassion and kindness, Jesus calls her “Daughter.”

Formerly nameless, on that day, Jesus called her Daughter.

Because that’s what He does. He sees us, gives us a new name, and sets us free.

Whatever we’ve been through, Jesus has time for us. Whatever hard story and painful history we carry, Jesus can heal us.

We just need to reach for Him. And when we do, He calls us Daughter. And sets us free.

What gets in the way of reaching for Jesus in your grief? What might happen if you held onto hope, harnessed faith, and stepped towards Him in courage?