Picture it. A crowded street overloaded with clamoring people all pressing in just to get a glimpse of Him. Shoulder to shoulder all shoving their way to get an inch closer. Noise is deafening. Heat suffocating. Dirt from the street kicks up and creates clouds of dust. Through the maddening crowd, she crawls through. She dodges a foot here and another there as she inches her way to Him. Does anyone even see her? Desperate and motivated, as a last-ditch effort for healing, she reaches as far as her body can stretch. Just half an inch more! One more push, even if she gets stepped on, she reaches one more time to touch the edge of His cloak. Suddenly, it happens! A rush of heat, a feeling of weights coming off, and an energy she has never felt overwhelms her. As she pats around her body in awe, He stops and asks who touched Him. Nobody noticed her before and nobody notices her even now. Convinced that someone touched Him, Jesus bends down and sees the one that no one even knew was there. From that moment on, her life was changed. Not only was she healed, but she was never alone again.  

For twelve years the woman with the issue of blood was alone in a world full of people. Because of her illness, no one could be around her. No one hugged her in her times of loneliness. Doctors were baffled by her condition and gave up any remedy. I imagine there were times when she was forgotten, isolated for days, months, and years. Then her faith rose up. Despite what doctors had said, foregoing the feeling of despair and isolation that loneliness can evoke, she pushed through and was met by kind eyes and a healing touch. Of all those in the crowd at the moment, the only one that Jesus focused on was her. Can we walk with such faith when we are overcome by loneliness? So many times, we can feel so alone even though we are in a crowded room ministering to so many. Even at a party of friends, we can feel lonely when we are missing family back home. It is in these times that we can remember the example of this tenacious woman. Push through, my friend. Keep going through the crowd and reach out to Him. He will meet you and you’ll never be alone again.