Touched

Something out of the ordinary happened to me fairly recently and it has led me to contemplate the following scripture:

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you."

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me."

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."

Luke 8:42b-48

I feel like I've experienced this story from both angles.

Basically, somebody who I met and chatted to for about 15 minutes nearly two months ago, has tracked me down and got in touch again. they weren't by any means obliged to do so and it was completely unexpected.

It just blew my socks off!

Nobody has ever really done something like that for me. There are people who are more established in my circle of friends who don't make that sort of effort... so this for me, was a heartwarming gesture - it was just... nice.

In the Bible passage, we read that Jesus becomes aware that someone has "touched" him. At the time he was being jostled about by the crowd, so the disciples probably looked at him a bit gone out when he asked who it was. The important thing was that it wasn't the touch of anyone familiar that caught his attention. It was the touch of someone who had reached out to the heart of God in the hope of being healed...

...and this is where the story flips to the other perspective for me. This was like a timely word for me. I've been feeling more than a little undervalued and a bit out of place lately. Yet someone blazes across my sky like a comet... and by their gesture of kindness and genuine friendship, it is all washed away. I feel valued and appreciated by someone who has demonstrated their living faith in an excellent way.

It doesn't take much to lift a person... to touch their life. Just a smile or a "hello" out of the blue can make all the difference deep within.

I encourage you to do likewise.

N