The Twelve Year Itch“And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, ‘Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well [not just healed but fully restored or made completely whole] from that hour.” (Matthew 9:20-22) In the 1955 Marilyn Monroe classic The Seven Year Itch, a faithful husband is tempted by a beautiful neighbor when his family goes away for the summer. In the gospel of Matthew, God has an even better story of the twelve year itch in the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years. She must have spent all her money on doctors and HMOs trying to get healed of her blood condition but found no cure until she touched the hem of The Great Physician in faith. She must have been socially ostracized by friends and family who did not want to contract the disease like SARS of today. Have we wonder what would happen if we reached out to Jesus more often by spending time in the Word of God? What would happen if we reached out to Him to heal our emotional, physical, marital, social and financial wounds? What would happen if we stopped worrying about what others think and asked God for forgiveness and restoration? Jesus healed the woman of the twelve year itch, an incurable blood illness that had afflicted her for 12 years. She reached out to Jesus in faith and He not just physically healed her, but made her whole — emotionally, spiritually, socially and financially. She believed that Jesus would do just that if only she could get to touch His garment. She had enough faith to reach out to Him so that she would be healed, and she was made whole. AT&T wants us to reach out and touch someone, but we should be reaching out in faith to Jesus. We may accomplish the goals and dreams on our To Do list, but never seem to get around to doing. We may find something that needs healing or restoration that we weren’t aware of. We may even find the strength and confidence to make a difference in our families and in the lives of others. The young Tom Cruise had All The Right Moves, yet we do not want to make the first move by reaching out. We should not be afraid that God might not meet us half way just like He said He would because God does not lie as men do because He is faithful. We sit on our pity pot hoping that God will send someone to encourage and help us. We ask others to pray for us for that special need. We should not reach out only when we are in a desperate situation. It was not the touching of Jesus’ garment that healed the woman, it was her faith in reaching out to Him. Reach out to Jesus in faith by praying and meditating on His Word. It may not be natural, but just like this woman, God knows the struggles we face and He is willing to meet us just where we are. God is willing to wrap us in His everlasting arms and heal, restore, comfort, guide, and make us whole. All we have to do is make the first move so go ahead and let God, not Clint Eastwood, make our day.Copyright © 2003 Eddy Ministries. All rights reserved. Subscribe/Unsubscribe: eddyn@earthlink.net
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