Day 3: Hemmed In
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had [touched Him]. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at His feet and, trembling with fear, told Him the whole truth (Mark 5:32-33).
Oh God, the psalmist prayed, You have searched me Lord, and You know me, You know when I sit and when I rise...You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? (Psalm 139:1-2, 5, 7).
For some who may not know Your love and compassion, this level of intimate knowledge is unnerving and uncomfortable, but for the psalmist his prayer was a celebration of Your benevolent eye. Others, like him, have known the comfort of Your omniscient reach— have found you in the heavens, in the depths, on the wings of the dawn, or on the far side of the sea (Psalm 139:8-9).
A young foreigner/slave gave voice to involuntary praise as she encountered the God of watchful care in the midst of banishment, abandonment and isolation. In a desert place she discovered the wonder and relief of meeting El Roi, "The God who sees me" (Genesis 16:7-14).
And for one woman in a crowd hemmed in by shame, stigma, and hopelessness, her desperate act of socially scandalous audacity seemed outrageous and unpardonable:
A large crowd followed and pressed around [Jesus]. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed” (Mark 5:24-28).
But it was healing, peace, compassion, and freedom she found instead of the reproach she feared: He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:34). For she had come to a God who placed people over protocol, compassion over custom, love over legality.
Lord, we thank You for Your kindness, and compassion— for the grace that vindicates, for the love that hems us in behind and before. We thank You for the hand You lay upon us, for the healing that flows to us.
In this world of anonymity, loneliness, and isolation, we thank You for the ever-vigil eyes of El Roi. We thank You for the wonderful knowledge that feels our need in the surge of the throng, the crush of the crowd, the void of the desert, the deep of the dark.
O pour upon our waiting hearts the Spirit of Thy grace,
That we might plead with thee to show the brightness of Thy face,
Beseeching Thee to grant the will and strength and faith to such
As lie in helpless misery, Thy garment's hem to touch.
~ Frances Ridley Havergal ~ 1883
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