The Bible story of the woman with the issue of blood offers a solution for the many ills that the Black community faces in our schools, our neighborhoods, and our institutions if only we’d read between the lines.
As the story goes, the unnamed woman had been suffering for 12 years from a condition that resulted in unstaunched menstrual bleeding. By the time she came upon Jesus she’d already spent all the money she had on doctors, none of whom could heal her.
Her prayer was to just be able touch the hem of Jesus’ garment and she was confident that she’d be healed. What’s written between the lines of this story is that her faith activated God’s power.
The woman had been ostracized because of her illness. The Mosaic law required that she not touch anyone lest that person also would become unclean. Yet, she’d heard of, and perhaps had even seen the awesome power Jesus wielded.
So, armed with nothing but her faith, and against all odds she became an agent of her own deliverance. She reached out and touched Him. The Bible says when she did, Jesus felt power go out from Him. When Jesus realized it was her who’d touched Him, He told her “your faith has made you whole.”
The woman’s faith had released God’s power. This is where the Black community finds itself. We need to activate our faith to release God’s power.
We’ve done or are doing everything under the sun to cure our own ills: we’re installing metal detectors in schools to reduce student violence; we’re spending millions of dollars on prevention programs for drugs abuse and homelessness. Like the woman with the issue of blood, we’ve pretty much exhausted all that we can do on our own.
Perhaps the only thing lacking now is faith. We’ve done everything but add faith to our actions. The woman with the issue of blood didn’t ask Jesus to pray for her; she didn’t ask Him to lay hands on her, or to have mercy on her. She spoke to her own circumstances.
She took matters into her own hands, and by taking action, she was exercising her faith, which Jesus acknowledged was the release of God’s power. Maybe the healing we’re lacking in the areas where we’re suffering is because we’re not acting in faith. Maybe we’re trusting more in the works of our own hands rather than the power of the Living God.
I know it’s hard to have faith when newspaper headlines decry that the Black community is in the midst of a bloodbath. It’s hard to have faith when school violence is pervasive, and police seem to prey only on Black people. It’s hard to have faith when first graders are assaulting their teachers.
On the surface things seem insurmountable, but so did things seem insurmountable for that woman with the issue of blood. She demonstrated faith, not in herself, but a faith in Christ that released God’s power.
Just what might happen if we started exercising that kind of faith in the Black community? By definition, faith is the substance of things we hope for; it’s evidence of that which we cannot yet see. The woman with the issue of blood wasn’t complaining about how much money she’d spent on doctors, or how horrific her condition was.
Like her, we need to stop bemoaning the sad state of affairs in the Black community and begin seeing things as they can be not as the statistics describe them. Calling things that be not as though they were, and taking the requisite action to bring about God’s Kingdom in the earth.
Anyone can wallow in hopeless statistics. Statistically, the woman with the issue of blood had no reason to be hopeful. She’d spent all she had and was still suffering from an incurable illness. Yet in the midst of her affliction, she saw herself healed. Not only did she see herself healed, but she also took action to bring about the healing.
“If I could just touch the hem of His garment,” she said to herself, and to no one in particular.
Her faith released God’s power. Maybe our solutions for the ills of the Black community are lacking God’s power — lacking in faith. If we’d only walk in faith, maybe our problems wouldn’t seem so intractable. If we’d only walk in faith, God’s power would cure our ills.
Perhaps Faith is what’s missing from our prayers. Were that not the case, we’d already have solved many of our problems. Walking in faith means truly trusting that God will make the difference.
Without faith it’s impossible to please Him.
9 responses to “Faith Activates God’s Power”
This is a great message on true faith Pastor Tibbs. Hebrews 11:1 makes it clear about faith. Sure and certain are words that describe faith. You’ve got to be sure that you believe God is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do. Believe even though we can’t see anything happening yet, we show true faith. Patiently wait and see God deliver. He is true to his promises. 🙏🏽🙌🏽👏🏽
Aunt Edna,
I can always count on you to receive what God is saying in His Word!
Blessings to you and your/our family.
Great message, Pastor Tibbs! I needed this RHEMA word today! I like Eugene Peterson’s translation of Hebrews 11:6 in the Message Bible — “It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.”
Although God already KNOWS our needs (Matthew 6:32), He is MOVED by our faith (Hebrews 11:6)! And if we KNOW God, our faith MOVES us to act!
We only please the Lord by living in faith! Amen! Amen!
Dear Pastor Tibbs,
Thank you for sharing this message. God activates the very faith that moves the hand of God. God activated the woman’s faith against all ‘reason.’ Her faith helped her to move forward despite her long history of disappointment and failure. God inspired and guided such faith. May God give us this gift once again times 100 million people that the world as we know it is transformed.
This was Awesome Man of God! I love how you tapped into the bottom line which is that FAITH is an action word. When we put our FAITH in action GOD’S POWER will break through, things will change, and He will blow our minds and knock our socks off with ABUNDANT BLESSINGS! Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!!!✝️🙌🏾🤩💃🏾💖💖
Hey Pastor Tibbs, love this story!
We as Believers should continue to speak, encourage, and demonstrate God’s word.
This woman believed without a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah and she would be healed. She had heard about all the people that He had healed. Faith comes by hearing…hearing what? The word of God
Amen! God’s Blessings .
Hey Pastor Tibbs, love this story!
We as Believers should continue to speak, encourage, and demonstrate God’s word.
This woman believed without a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah and she would be healed. She had heard about all the people that He had healed. Faith comes by hearing…hearing what? The word of God
Amen! God’s Blessings .
Pastor Tibbs you have always known how to bring the word in context with our times to show us that God’s word is timeless and his teachings are just as relevant for us today as it was for those living at the time of the message. This message and the way you explained it touched me, because its so easy, even as people of God to feel as if there is nothing left we can do but wait for God to return before things will change, but this passage of scripture reminds us that Faith is a verb and we can active it right here and now to experience the Power of God in our everyday circumstances.
That’s Denise. I’m so glad the piece spoke to you. You picked up what I was trying to put down. Blessings!