And a certain woman who had had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and had not been bettered any, but rather came to worse, having heard about Jesus, she came in the press behind and touched His garment. For she said, If I may but touch only His clothes, I will be cured. And instantly the fountain of her blood dried up. And she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And knowing instantly within Himself that power had gone out of Him, Jesus turned Himself around in the press and said, Who touched My clothes? And His disciples said to Him, You see the crowd pressing on You, and do You say, Who touched Me? And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done in her, came and fell down before Him and told Him all the truth. And He said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be whole from your plague.
(Mar 5:25-34 MKJV)

“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.
(Lev 15:25-27 ESV)

This woman had been segregated from her society for more than 12 years. If she was married, her husband kept to his own side of the tent. In addition to the symptoms of the illness, she was held to a higher hygenic standard than anybody else – for her and her husband, if he inadvertantly came in contact with her or anything she sat on. In other words, more laundry, and no Maytag to do it in. She spent everything she had on doctors and treatment, and things had only gotten worse. She was desperate enough to believe the rumors about this itinerant preacher were true. She was desperate enough to believe that just touching the fringe of his robe would cure her. And she was right.

Now, did Jesus really have to ask who had touched him and been cured? No. So why not let her slip away in obscurity? George Morrison explains it this way:

She would never have known the loving will of Christ; she would have thought her cure was automatic. And our Lord summoned her forth, and made her tell her story, that she might be lifted out of the realm of magic and brought into living relationship with Him. It seemed cruel, but it was really kind. It sent her home with loftier thoughts of Him. She would never talk of the wonder of the tassel; she would always talk of the wonder of the Lord. Permitted to steal away without confession, she would have said exultantly, “I’ve found a cure.” Now the woman cried, “I’ve found a friend.”

Then had she been allowed to steal away she never would have been quite sure of Jesus. She would have been haunted, to the last hour she lived, by the suspicion that she had done something wrong. You will notice that when the Savior summoned her she came to His blessed feet with fear and trembling. It was not her dread of the crowd that made her tremble; it was something deeper in her woman’s breast. It was her fear that she had stolen something; that she had filched a cure and acted surreptitiously; that she was going to hear the accents of rebuke. Now suppose she had gone home again, without the swift compulsion of confession, cannot you see at a glance that all her life she would have been haunted by that chilling fear? That was why He insisted on confession; she must tell Him all and see His look of love; she must hear Him saying to her, “Daughter.” She was the only woman to whom He ever gave that title. He never called anybody else His daughter. She would have missed all that if she had got her way. To learn it, she had to take the way of Christ. And always, if we want to learn His love, and to have done forever with our fear and trembling, like her we have to take the way of Christ.

Lastly, if He had let her have her way this woman would have been powerless for service. And nobody is healed just to be happy; we are saved that we may save. In a brief space of time He would be dead, and dead, where were His garments now? The garments were gone, their wearer had been crucified, and what testimony had she to bear for Christ to the children of disappointment and disease? She would have had no power for witness-bearing; she could never have spoken of the love of Jesus; she never could have cried to weary, broken people, “The Master looked on me, and called me daughter.” And Christ was so eager she should be a witness-bearer, in places where His foot had never trod, that He imperiously insisted on confession. Had she stolen away she would have had her gift, but she never would have known the Giver. For that she had to stand forth and confess.

So what happened to this woman after this amazing, life-changing encounter with Christ? Eusebius reports that two statues were commissioned and displayed at her front door; one of a woman kneeling and reaching out in supplication to the other statue, of a robed man whose hand was stretched out to her. For as long as she lived, and through these statues even after her death, she told of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
(Psa 25:4-10 ESV)

Morpheus told Neo, “Sooner or later, you are going to learn, just as I did, that there is a difference between KNOWING the path and WALKING the path.” As a Christian, I’ve found it’s so much easier to know the path, and to give other people directions on how to get to the path and follow it, than to do it myself. The bible may not have “Don’t Panic” in large friendly print on the cover but it IS the ultimate Guide, constantly updated in its application by the Holy Spirit, and critical to knowing the path. Pursuing holiness in my everyday life – the ongoing process of sanctification that Christians undergo – is a thousand decisions a day. Everything from hitting the snooze alarm or getting up and doing a bible study before work, to expressing myself without resorting to profanity, to what to eat and wear, to what media choices I make… walking the path is exhausting and exhilarating. Today I’m thanking God for the privilege of the journey.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of Jehovah your God, which He commanded you. For now Jehovah would have established your kingdom on Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not stand. Jehovah has sought Him a man after His own heart, and Jehovah has appointed him to be leader over His people, because you have not kept what Jehovah commanded you.
(1Sa 13:13-14 MKJV)

And when He had removed him, He raised up David to them to be their king; to whom He also witnessed and said, I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after My own heart, who shall fulfill all My will.
(Act 13:22 MKJV)

God was displeased with Saul because he was disobedient; David was a man after God’s own heart because he would fulfill all His will. David had such a turbulent relationship with God. When he was walking with God, his successes were phenomenal and his relationship with God was amazing – but when he fell, he fell far and fast. Here’s how it happened:
2 Samuel 11:1 – Instead of going to work – that is, out with his troops to fight – David stayed home.
2 Samuel 11:2 – While he was home not working, he saw Bathsheba (bathing out in public! Not exactly the soul of modesty…) and he gave in to temptation and kept looking.
2 Samuel 11:3 – Next step, he asked around to find out who she was, the wife of Uriah, one of his commanding officers who was out fighting.
2 Samuel 11:4 – Sent for her, had her brought to him, and had sex with her, then sent her home.
2 Samuel 11:5 – He had nothing more to do with her, until she found out she was pregnant and sent a message to David to let him know. He was probably skulking around at home, ashamed of himself, and trying to pretend the whole thing never happened.
2 Samuel 11:6 – David sent for Uriah, so he could sleep with Bathsheba and take responsibility for the pregnancy.
2 Samuel 11:7 – David played it real casual, how’s it going, etc. Uriah was probably kind of perplexed, but what could he do? He reported on how things were going.
2 Samuel 11:8 – David said, go home, get some R & R, and when Uriah left, David even had a gift sent after him.
2 Samuel 11:9 – Uriah did not go home, he hung around David’s place, waiting for further instructions from his king, probably wondering what the heck was going on.
2 Samuel 11:10 – David asked Uriah, what’s going on, why didn’t you go home?
2 Samuel 11:11 – Uriah said, I’m not going on vacation, there’s a war on, and my troops are at the front. I’m not going to go enjoy luxuries that they can’t.
2 Samuel 11:12 – Now David tries to be crafty, saying Stay one more day, then you can leave tomorrow.
2 Samuel 11:13 – David got Uriah drunk, figuring that would do it, but no luck, Uriah stuck around.
2 Samuel 11:14-15 – Now David figures he’s done everything he can, he can’t ORDER the guy to sleep with his own wife. So David writes to Joab, one of his generals, to say, Put Uriah in a really dangerous part of the battle. And he gives the letter to Uriah to deliver. That was cold.
2 Samuel 11:16-17 – Joab obediently sent Uriah to die, and David was a murderer.

All this started with the one decision to be lazy. He probably rationalized that he was due a vacation, hadn’t he worked hard and been obedient to the Lord? God forgave him (when he finally repented) but that one sin of selfishness or laziness sent David’s life spinning out of control.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Rom 8:6-8 MKJV)

To be carnally minded – giving in to sin – is to declare myself not subject to God’s laws, and places me in opposition to God. That’s where David went, and his life became scary and chaotic, and there were repercussions for the rest of his life. But there is hope:

But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.
(Rom 8:11 MKJV)