Why we don't give up?

Mark 5:25-34

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stooped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. Help me lift up my title “Why we don’t give up”?

Jesus had freed a demon-possessed man on the other side of the Lake (Sea of Galilee) and how was on his way to help a local ruler of the synagogue, daughter who was dying. A large crowd gathered around as he walked. This woman had been hemorrhaging for a long time, twelve years; and it was uncontrollable. No one could touch her or anything she had touched. The Jews law considered her unclean, so unclean that she was to be divorced by her husband. She was to be totally cut off from society and religious worship. This particular woman had tried all she knew. She had seen “many” doctors, and “spent all the money that she had,” and yet she “grew worse.” “This woman was at the end of her road.” Oh! I know there is a sermon that needs to be preached. So pray with me while I tell you Why we don’t give up?

I need to tell you she had three attitudes that I need to talk about. When you have been brought to the point of helplessness and hopelessness and there is no hope anywhere else, there is always hope in Christ. She had a last resort attitude. This was not the time for her to give up. She was breaking the law by being in the crowd. She desperately wanted Jesus to heal her, but she knew that her bleeding would cause Jesus to be unclean, if she touched him. Sometimes we feel that our problems will keep us from God. This woman had a last resort attitude. One reason for why we don’t give up is, when all else fails, there is Jesus. He is waiting for us. “That is why we don’t give up?”

She was shy, embarrassed, and felt unworthy. This woman had a nobody's business but my own attitude. She elbowed her way through the crowd and came up behind Jesus. She wanted to touch Jesus without being seen or noticed. Her hemorrhaging was personal and intimate matter for her, something she did not want others to know or discuss. Somebody knows what I’m talking about, the feeling of guilt and shame. We have had embarrassing matters, personal matters, and secret matters that we want no one else to be aware of. Hear me church, we sometimes get embarrassed and have an nobody's business but my own attitude. We can still approach Jesus. He is waiting for us. “That why we don’t give up?”

This hopeless woman had a believing attitude. She believed what she had heard about Jesus. She believed the gospel that Jesus preached and believed he would care about her plight and would make her whole. “ If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” The believing attitude is important for everyone before coming to Christ. We must have a believing attitude to understand that Jesus, he waiting for us. “That why we don’t give up?”

I live in two worlds, one world where I work as one of God’s servants and a voice in making life better for others there in Durham. The second world where I’m reliving my past. A place where I asked many times “Where are you God?”

The women with the issue of blood and I have something in common. I had to go to Jesus to be made whole. Nothing else worked. There was no need for me to reach the point of hopelessness; no need for me to become depressed, and no need for me to consider giving up. God wants a broken spirit and sincere remorse. We can never please God by our outward action. God looked inward and was pleased by my humility. Jesus, he is waiting for me. “That why we don’t give up?” We often wish we could escape troubles, the pain of grief, loss, sorrow, and failure. My Jesus promises to be “close to the brokenhearted”, to be our source of power, our source of courage, and our source of wisdom while helping us through our problem. When trouble strikes, don’t give up. Instead, admit that you need God’s help and thank him for being by your side. Jesus, he is waiting for us, “That why we never give up.”