ODJ: ‘if only i’ steps

November 7, 2014 

READ: Mark 5:25-34 

If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed (v.28).

Mark 5:25-34 contains what I call my ‘If only I’ steps. They’re the desperately needed, but often last resort, actions I often take to reach out to Jesus and find the healing and deeper intimacy I need.

Last month I took an ‘If only I’ step when I flew across the country and then drove 7 hours to join a group of women on a prayer retreat. Depleted following a hard season of ministry in Uganda, I knew I’d reached a point where I absolutely had to be engulfed in fellowship with praying friends. There, I believed, I could better wade through the negative thoughts that had crept in during trials—challenges that had crowded out my understanding of God’s love for me.

“If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed,” the woman said as she unabashedly worked her way through the crowds to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe (Mark 5:28). And as a result of her reaching out to Him, the “terrible condition” that had plagued the woman for 12 years left her “immediately” (v.29).

“Jesus realised at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my robe?’ His disciples said to him, ‘Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, “Who touched me?”’

“But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realisation of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over’ ” (vv.30-34).

If there’s something plaguing you, prayerfully consider taking an ‘If only I’ step and reach out for Jesus today! —Roxanne Robbins

365-day plan› Acts 20:1-12