Strength

“And He said unto her, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.’” (Luke 8:48).

Healing of a Bleeding Woman (Marcellinus Peter Catacomb)

The other day I was very tired.  This was not just a normal sort of physical tiredness, it was something much more bone deep.  I was tired of arguing and tired of my responsibilities.  I was tired of working and tired of people around me making my life more difficult.  Perhaps I was just tired because I was a little worn out?  Perhaps it was because I was weak and sinful?  Perhaps the people around me were trying my patience a little more than usual on that particular day?  Whatever the reason, I was tired that day.

And as I was reflecting on how tired I really was, I started to think about Christ in His mission on Earth and how tired Christ – perfect Man – must have been.  You see, Christ came to Earth as God and Man.  But as Man He existed in complete human weakness.  And that means that He became tired each day.  And Christ worked very hard.  He knew that He had only entered time and space for a very very short period of time and that meant that He worked hard to make use of the time He had without wasting any of it…

Every single miracle that Christ performed took energy from Him.  We know this because when the bleeding woman touched the hem of His garment, He felt the power go out of Him…

“And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.  And Jesus said, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, ‘Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?’  And Jesus said, ‘Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.’  And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared unto Him before all the people for what cause she had touched Him, and how she was healed immediately.  And He said unto her, ‘Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.’” (Luke 8:43-48).

That miracle happened on the way to another miracle.  And Those are just miracles that we are told about in the Gospel.  They do not represent the culmination of all miracles.  You see, Christ performed thousands – if not tens or hundreds of thousands – of miracles during His short time on Earth.  Does it make sense that God waited until He was thirty years old before performing even one miracle?  Surely when He was growing up, He would have been surrounded by people in need and provided for them?  Surely, He would have – even by His very example – brought others closer to God in Faith?

I imagine Christ as a Child and a Teenager.  How He must have set an example with humility before His peers.  How they must have loved Him and been drawn to Him.  Perhaps the other mothers in the neighbourhood said to their boys, “Oh darling, be a friend to Jesus, He is such a good boy for you to know.”  Perhaps they saw the goodness in Him and tried to surround themselves with Him?  And here I am – KNOWING FOR SURE that Christ is God and still I do not rely on Him.  Still I try to place myself in my own hands…

And I have been thinking about that today as I reflect on the Christ of the Gospel and the Christ in my Heart.  For He is God and He will give me strength…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.