Do Not Fear, Only Believe

This meditation is based on a passage for January 24, 2011 in the Daily Lectionary Year 1 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).

Text: Mark 5:21-43

Reflection and Question: I love this healing story in Mark, told also in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56. It is in my personal canon of Scripture — the passages that I come back to most for succor and guidance. I gain strength from the unnamed woman, unclean because of her flow of blood, in her effort to touch Jesus and her honesty with Him. I watch the way Jesus gives priority to this woman over the powerful official but then helps him, too, in his need. Jesus summarizes the lesson for me in His words to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe.” When have you set aside your fears and simply believed?

Prayer: Blessed Jesus, You know the way fear can rise in our hearts and minds, squeezing out all courage and trust, leaving us weak when we would be strong. Empower our faith, as You did for all in this story. Heal us as we have need. Amen.