Trying to Hide

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Scripture
 
Luke 8:47 When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

Observation

The woman with the issue of blood had reached out and touched Jesus. She had the faith to believe that simply touching him would heal her. She knew, however, that this was not the right thing to do, for she was considered unclean. Touching Jesus would have made him unclean and this would have been a horrible thing to do. But in her desperation, she reaches out and touches him anyway. Little did she know that he would sense healing power leaving his body and touching her. Now, she is embarrassed that he realizes something has happened. She has broken the law by touching this man. Therefore she decides that she will hide but she realizes this is futile. She has to admit what she has done and so she comes before Jesus and tells what she has done.

Application

Sometimes we really want the Lord to do something for us but out of embarrassment we hide in the shadows. We are not sure that we want anyone to know the depths of our need, including Jesus. We try to sneak up on him and reach out and get from him what we need without fully engaging with him. We try to hide so that neither the Lord, nor the world can see that we are in trouble. But it doesn’t work that way.

The Lord will always see our need, no matter where we try to hide. There is nothing that can be hidden from God, so why do we try? We are welcomed to step out of the shadows and into the grace of our Lord. We don’t have to be afraid of what we are going through, because Jesus, the one with the power to provide will not condemn but will reach out to us in holy love, welcoming us into a relationship with him. Standing back in the shadows we are unable to have a face to face relationship in which we will reflect Christ.

The woman realized that she couldn’t be hidden and rather than being embarrassed she was embraced by Jesus and his love. It’s never worth it to try and hide from Jesus. It is in our woundedness that God brings healing, filling those wounds with love and grace. Come out of the shadows and allow God’s love to pour over your deepest need.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for your promise of love and acceptance. Amen.

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