...to touch him....

Mark 3: 7 - 12

All who had diseases pressed upon Jesus to touch him.....

I wonder how often we 'press' close to the Lord, eager to be freed of all the hindrances that keep us at a distance. It was the needy people who did that in Jesus' time.....the 'multitude', that became a crowd.....those who knew their needs and were not ashamed to acknowledge them. I hear from others and I know that I myself am afraid of feeling 'vulnerable'. This was brought home to me as I processed my reactions that came up during my hospital visits. I run away from vulnerable feelings into the rationalizing mode, thinking about, trying to find reasons etc. It is difficult, but, as my supervisor reminds me....."stay with the feelings".

Coming to the Lord "as I am" is a challenge because very quickly I have "cleaned" myself up and presented my needs in a "sanitized" manner.......The Lord accepted all those who came to him......and they came mostly in an awfully needy condition. They trusted him to have compassion on them. They were not afraid to show their true needs. As they did so, power came from Jesus and they were healed.

To be "healed" we need to first be vulnerable, coming to the Lord as we are....not as we believe we 'should' be. We draw near to 'touch' him, to receive his loving restoration.