The Cure

Gary Bird
Luke 8:43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.


The Bible tells us of a woman who had a health concern. If she was alive today, the story would go something like this. She had spent all of her government stimulus money trying to understand what her next step should be. She went to every doctor that was available, read Web MD late into the night, and even watched famous YouTube doctors for answers. But nothing helped and she lived in fear of the coming doom. This unknown disease was going to be her death.

The fear of the unknown causes havoc in our lives. Fear is a natural reaction for us. It comes easily and doesn’t need to be taught. In addition, fear is also the largest enemy of our faith, and anything that is not of faith is sin for the Christian. So, we must ask ourselves. Why did the Lord allow this illness to wreck chaos in this woman’s life for years?

Why would the Lord allow COVID to turn the whole world upside down? Why would the Lord allow leaders in our state and country to pass government decrees that strip us of the liberties that help us serve God?

While we can’t answer this question for every person, nor can we fully understand how our Heavenly Father acts in every situation, we can see in the life of the woman that it was clear where her answer was found. It wasn’t in the upcoming vaccine, in her finances, in the government, or doctors. Her answer was found at the feet of Jesus. Her issues were resolved there. It seems clear that her illness was a tool that brought her closer to Jesus.

I think of the story where God needed to get Mary and Joseph from Galilee to Bethlehem. Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem to fulfill Scripture. The only issue was that they lived about 80 miles away from Bethlehem. Traveling didn’t seem like the best option for a woman who was nine months pregnant. There was no Uber ride or bus ticket, just an old fashioned donkey.

What was God’s solution to help this family get where He wanted them: a standard government decree. I am sure as Joseph heard about this coming tax, he didn’t praise the Lord for God’s will being fulfilled in his life. He just knew he had to travel those long 80 miles with a very pregnant wife to make sure he could pay his taxes. As they arrived in Bethlehem, I can only imagine the conversations the two had about the local hospital and hotel accommodations.

They were forcefully isolated from the world during one of the most vulnerable times of their life. While they weren’t dealing with race riots, they were most definitely left with nowhere to turn but God. Also, don’t forget that the king of that day opened up a full-fledged, post-birth abortion campaign to rid the world of all the baby boys. Even in the face of all this crazy upside-down world, God’s will was fulfilled and Jesus was born where the Old Testament prophesied He would be born hundreds of years earlier in Micah 5:2.

It seems possible that we might miss what God is trying to tell us. At times, He may need to use something larger than life to get our attention. Whether it’s sickness, government overreach, or being isolated from my normal routines, God has a way of making sure He has our attention.

There is a sickness that is causing our whole world to be turned upside down. We face economic shutdowns that are destroying livelihoods and backing people into the corner. Our government is overreaching with laws that seem to be forcing us to choose between liberty and dictatorship. The authorities we have endorse worldwide baby murder. What’s our solution?

Well, like most things with the Lord, the answers are usually pretty simple and straight forward. They just have to be exercised by us. Let’s look at where God may be trying to get our focus:

      Suffer from pride: humility
     Suffer from envy: kindness
      Suffer from gluttony: temperance
      Suffer from lust: chastity
      Suffer from anger: patience
      Suffer from greed: giving
      Suffer from slothfulness: diligence
      Suffer from hate: love
      Suffer from fear: faith
      Suffer from unforgiveness: the gospel
      Suffer from sin: grace

Notice all of these areas are focused on things we can control. These are choices. I can choose to continue in pride or humble myself. I can choose to envy or practice kindness. I can choose to be greedy or I can choose to give.

What was the answer for the woman with the illness? Did she make sure to force her health opinion of fear on everyone else? What about Mary and Joseph? Did they post and repost every concern they had about the government on social media, making sure to watch the news every day so that they could live in a constant state of fear?

Nope! Both the sick woman and Mary and Joseph traveled down the road the Lord placed before them. Humbly, they journeyed the best they could. They focused on what they could control and what they couldn’t control ended up at the feet of Jesus for Him to sort out on their behalf.

If 2020 has taught me anything, it is this. I can’t control the outcome, but I can control how I travel through the journey. I am not a political agent. I am not a health expert. I cannot control election outcomes. I can’t control the national treasury and I don’t have a grasp on where the housing and stock market is heading.

However, these are the areas I can control. I can control my relationships. I can control how I respond to the circumstances I face and I can control how much I pray, read my Bible, and share Christ with others. May we as Christians spend our energy on things we can control in 2021 and leave the things we can’t at the feet of Jesus.

Gary Bird

Gary and his family are core members of our church. He teaches an Adult Sunday School, directs the Bus Ministry, and oversees the Earning for Learning and Rest Home Ministry programs. He and his wife are blessed with five children.

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