Mark 5:25-34(NASV)
I will be speaking on the subject “A touch of Faith” and it is my fervent prayer that you will be blessed through this teaching. Before we go further, let us pray:

Father I want to thank you for the opportunity to reach out to your children. The Bible says you made the heaven and earth through your word and you strengthen and sustain us also through your word, we are honoured and privileged and we are also blessed to have the treasure of your word, we ask that you will speak to our situations, you will strengthen and encourage us. Thank you the Most High God, in Jesus name we pray.

Like most of us who have come to sojourn in a foreign land, it is your purpose and motive of leaving your native land that will ultimately determine what you will get in the new land. Take for example, two people: A and B who have gone out of their places of birth to sojourn in a foreign land. A and B may have varied level of success in their new habitats. That Mr A is more successful than Mr B does not necessarily mean that Mr A is more intelligent or that he has any peculiarity.

The fact still remains that the level of success one attains in an adventure depends largely on the MINDSET and LEVEL OF FOCUS one brings to bear. It is necessary for an individual to know and determine exactly what he wants; as there is the tendency that other people may mislead one, they may also influence the derailment of one's mission.

In effect, a lot of people were following Jesus in the passage we just read Mark 5:25-34(NASV) and each one of them had a peculiar problem, they were all in one situation or the other that required the attention of our Lord Jesus Christ. But many of them were following Him just for following sake. Although they followed Jesus around, it is painful to know that they returned back home the same way.

Nevertheless, there was a particular woman who was determined, who really understood and agreed with herself that she really needed the attention and a personal contact with Jesus. To this end, I want to believe that this particular message may be for one person, it may even be you, if only you will prepare your mind to receive the blessing of God for your situation. It is to this extent that I will not count it a wasted effort if the whole of this message is only for you alone. But I am equally persuaded that as many that lay their hands on this message will be blessed.

The womanwith the issue of blood was not born with this infirmity. She was just like any other woman running her normal monthly menstruation period. But alas, what was supposed to have lasted for only four or five days had refused to stop. I believe that at the beginning of what later turned out to be an ordeal, the woman might not have taken the whole situation seriously, she might have even believed that the ailment was due to a pregnancy.

The woman could also have attributed the flow of blood to restlessness or anxiety, so she might have encouraged herself to take some rest. But as each day passed, the flow of blood began to increase abnormally. And according to the Jewish law, when a woman is menstruating she becomes an unclean person, to the extent that a person who inadvertently sits where a menstruating woman had previously sat is equally declared unclean.
In effect, as a result of the issue of blood, the woman became segregated, she naturally became a persona not grata in public places, she was removed from the fellowship and reunion she had been enjoying before her predicament. That means that as a result of the sickness, according to Jewish tradition, this woman was not fit to attend worship services. 

This was a precarious situation the woman in question found herself, hoping that after four or five days the segregation would stop, but alas, it became a burden she had to carry for years and I can begin to imagine as the bible says the life of a man is in his blood, so when you are losing blood you lose nutrient, stamina, vitality and life as a whole. I want us to imagine the age this particular woman lived; it was not a time like ours, when we have food supplements and various multivitamins. So we can safely assume that this woman was eating extra-ordinarily to sustain herself with the way she lost blood on a daily basis.

This woman was faced with multiple tragedies; she was faced with the tragedy of being unable to conceive, why? Because in normal circumstances, a woman cannot be losing blood the way this woman did and expect to be pregnant. She had also lost companionship; according to the Jewish law, the husband dare not move close to her throughout the length of the sickness, otherwise he would have been declared unclean after which, some expensive rituals would have had to be carried out to make him clean again. For this reason, it is presumed that the husband would have had to keep an arm's length in order not to lose his fortunes on the rituals.

Her relatives, friends and other acquaintances will not move near her because of her unclean nature. Apart from the law and custom of the Jew that forbids people from identifying with the woman, it is also assumed that she must have been physically lean and haggard, hence looking unattractive and as a result she must have gone through a great psychological trauma. And the woe of the woman must have been compounded if she were married to a man of our time because he must have filed for divorce; and from the records of the scriptures, most especially the book of Mark, this woman was very rich because if she had not been rich, she would not have been able to consult so many physicians, the Bible said she spent all that she had on physicians but none of them could help her.

I want you to know and understand this, when the devil attacks your health, in effect what he is doing is to waste your wealth because “health is wealth”. He has come to devour your money, because the Bible says the devil is a thief. He has come to steal, to kill and to destroy( John 10:10). The devil is a bad guy. He is not interested in you, he is a fraud, he wants to destroy every good thing you have. He used this sickness as a means of stealing every resource this woman was had.

She was completely rejected, and I believe it was at this point that the ray of hope began to manifest, the hope of the hopeless must have been made manifest, when someone came to her and told her about JESUS.

The Bible says the victory that overcomes the world is our faith(1 John 5), that he that comes to God must believe that He is and He is able to deliver, to save, and to set-free(Hebrews 11:6). And with this expectation in the heart of this woman, she decided to approach Jesus. This woman was not supposed to appear in the public as an unclean woman because under the Jewish law (Leviticus law) she was supposed to be stoned to death for appearing in the public, (It means she wants to defile everybody that she touched) and people will see it as a deliberate act of wickedness, but she made up her mind to source solution in JESUS. Today, some of us are faced with a problem(s) and we don't see it the way God is seeing it, we see our problems as an obstacle- an obstacle hindering us from God, but I want you to know that every adversity, every problem, and trial, that comes your way, God has ordained it for your advancement.

It is there so that the glory of God can be made manifest upon our lives, because God has not ordained any of our problems to cause depression for us, He has not ordained it to cause sleepless nights for us, or bitterness between us, our friends and neighbours. It is an opportunity to see the glory of God upon our lives, and it is in the midst of adversities that God produces advancements. As this woman was going, her adversities became an opportunity for her to have a way through. God does not make mistakes, you need not to be bitter against your wife, husband, father, mother, friend or God because of the problems you are having, in the midst of the problems, God has ordained a way out, you can come out of it gloriously.
In every problem a Christian faces, God has provided a solution, but we don’t seem to see the solution because we fix our gaze on the problem and we lose our focus on Christ. And the bible has assured us that Christ, the author and finisher of our faith cannot forsake us. And I know God is using this message to address a situation in your life.

The adversity of the woman created a way for her, I believe she must have been stinking has she made her way to Jesus, but it did not stop her from touching the helm of His garment. As she headed towards Jesus, she exercised a great faith, she didn't even bother asking Jesus for healing, but by merely touching the helm of His garment, she received her healing.

Healing is a thing of faith, or rather; we can say receiving from God generally is a thing of faith. The Bible tells us that “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land”(Isaiah 1:19), the woman chose to be healed. Where there is a will, there is always a way.
If you want to be healed, you don’t necessarily always need the touch of a preacher, you need the touch of God, which you can get only through FAITH and before you know it, YOU WILL BE ALREADY HEALED.

The woman with the issue of blood had reason not to have reached out to Christ, having suffered the sickness for twelve years, she was suppose to have accepted it as her destiny, but she refused, she equally refused to consider the consequences of being caught as an unclean woman reaching out to the garment of Christ, she also did not look at the mammoth crowd she had to bye-pass to get to Christ, she only focused on the strength of what her faith told her that by mere touch of the helm of the garment of Christ, she would be healed, and so it was for her. You can only choose and back up your choice with faith to receive from God, God can turn around that seemingly impossible situation for good if only you desire it and back it up by faith, no one, however spiritually powerful can force it on you or desire it for you, you must first receive it by faith yourself.

JESUS from whom the woman with the issue of blood received her healing is still the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He can still do your own; He can turn your situation around for good, only if you have the faith, the kind of faith demonstrated by the woman in question. After so many years of agony, of depression, of disappointment and of mental, physical and psychological turmoil, only by the strength of her faith did she receive her healing.

Despite the risk and the hurdle the woman had had to face in order to reach the helm of the garment of Jesus, she resolved within herself to do it, because she believed it was her last hope, she also appreciated the fact that the risk she was taking could lead to death, yet she persisted on doing it. The helm of Jesus’ garment (Heb. Tassel), was a special mark of commitment to keep the law, meaning a mark of covenant. Nobody is permitted to touch this “tassel” except a member of one’s family or given a special permission. Although, this woman did not fall in either category, she still decided to take the risk at the expense of her life by touching the “tassel”.

Faith is a risk to pursue to the end. Such faith will open the heart of God to give to you even what you do not deserve. As the woman touched the helm of His garment, she became healed instantly by her faith. But in the midst of such great multitude JESUS felt power drawn from Him; the woman in question had to escape for her life, otherwise, she might have been stoned to death instantly. As the Lord called for her identification she resurfaced and in order to prevent her to be stoned to death, the Lord engrafted her into His family and covenant benefits. This is the only place where Jesus called anybody daughter in the whole of the New Testament, and calling “daughter” means henceforth you are a member of my family covenant. What is the benefit of this covenant? She was not just healed but she was made “whole” (v34 ).

You also can benefit from the Lord today if you stretch out your faith and touch Him, all your needs can be met according to His riches in glory. May the Lord bless you abundantly as you touch Him with your faith