Here is a devotion to start your day!
Also available now at Power, Love & Miracles:
Hidden Heroes of the Bible: The Empty Tomb. Chapters 7-9
Nicodemus: Faith That Grows in the Dark. The Bible Unplugged podcast, episode 72
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Hero: The Woman with the Issue of Blood
Hidden desperation meets public affirmation
Scripture: Mark 5:25–34
For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately … she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction... He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well…”
Reflection
For twelve years, she has been bleeding.
Her condition affects everything—her health, her finances, her relationships, her place in the community. She has spent all she had on doctors. Instead of getting better, she has only grown worse. According to the law, she is ceremonially unclean, which means her touch makes others unclean too.
So, she lives on the margins: isolated, ashamed, exhausted.
Then she hears about Jesus.
She doesn’t ask for a meeting. She doesn’t try to speak to Him. She just thinks, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” That hope feels almost too daring.
In the press of the crowd, she reaches out and touches the fringe of His garment. Immediately, the bleeding stops. She feels it. Jesus feels it too—“power had gone out from Him.”
He stops, turns, and asks, “Who touched my clothes?”
She could have slipped away healed and hidden. Instead, trembling, she comes forward and tells Him “the whole truth.” Her private desperation becomes public confession.
And Jesus calls her “Daughter.”
Not “woman,” not “patient,” not “problem”—but “Daughter.” He not only heals her body; He restores her identity and dignity in front of everyone. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”
If you carry long-term pain—physical, emotional, or spiritual—you may relate to her quiet desperation. You may feel like you’re “too much” or “not enough,” afraid to inconvenience anyone, maybe even God.
This story is for you.
Jesus is not annoyed by your reach. He honors it. He refuses to let you remain invisible. When you bring your whole truth to Him—your fear, your frustration, your fatigue—He meets you with tenderness, not shame.
Unassuming heroes are often people who, against all the messages that say “stay away,” dare to reach for Jesus anyway.
Centering Prayer
Jesus,
You see the places in me that bleed in secret—wounds I hide from others and sometimes from myself. Today I reach for you, even with shaky faith. Draw me close instead of pushing me away. Call me by the name ‘beloved.’ Let your healing presence flow into the deepest places of my life. – Amen
Practice for Today
Bring one hidden hurt honestly to Jesus—through prayer, journaling, or a trusted conversation. Let yourself be “seen” rather than staying entirely in the crowd.
Journaling Prompt
Where am I most tempted to stay invisible with my pain? What might it look like to reach out and touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment today?
Closing Blessing
Move through your day knowing you have been seen and named.
Let Christ’s tenderness soften your shame and fear.
Reach for Him in your hidden places without holding back.
Walk in the peace that comes from being called “Daughter” or “Son.”
Pray as You Go
Breathe in: Jesus, I reach for You...
Breathe out: ... heal my hidden places
