Thy Faith Hath Made Thee Whole

 

I am facilitating the Emotional Resilience class for our stake right now and am loving it!  Recently, we talked about time management, stress and anxiety.  During our discussion we were instructed to watch this video: 

I was poignantly impressed by the wording of this story differently than I have before.  

The woman with the issue of blood says, “I knew if I could just touch thy clothes, then I would be whole.” 

Jesus replies, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.” 

Notice, Jesus did not say, “I have healed you.”  No, instead He said, “Thy faith” has healed you. 

It was the power within the woman that increased her access to His power to heal.  His focus on was on her faith. How empowering is that?  

In the video President Nelson states, “Faith that motivates us to action gives us more access to His power.” This woman knew she could be healed (faith) if she reached out and touched His garment (action). 

This way of looking at it may raise such questions as: 

What does that mean then when I am sick and exert my faith to be healed but am not? 

Does that mean I did not have enough faith? 

Does that mean I did not have enough access to His power? 

I find answer to these questions by a statement made in our most recent general conference. Sister Amy A. Wright stated, “I learned in a profound way that deliverance from our trials is different for each of us, and therefore our focus should be less about the way in which we are delivered and more about the Deliverer Himself.  Our emphasis should always be on Jesus Christ!”  

Yes, the woman with the issue of blood might have been focused on her healing.  She had suffered for so many years and needed relief!  However, her focus was on the Savior Jesus Christ, the One who could heal her, not the healing itself.  When our focus is on Him and His power, miraculous healing does take place.  Such healing will look different for everyone.  It could be that we become healthy after being sick, it could be that we feel peace when there was pain, that healing could even be death itself.  Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how we are healed so long as we are focused on our Savior. 

In our Come Follow Me study of the Old Testament we read theses verses: 

“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously…The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitations…and I will exalt him (Exodus 15:1-2l, emphasis added).” 

Our faith may result in wholeness, but our praises are still to be focused on our God.  Even as we struggle we find opportunity to praise Him in our triumphs, to express gratitude in our healing, and to reach for Him in our pain.  Thus, He will gladly bear our burdens (see Hymn #86, How Great Thou Art).” 

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“Jesus Christ gave His life for us all so that we could have access to Godly power. Power sufficient to deal with the burdens, obstacles and temptations of our day.” 

President Russell M. Nelson