“Daughter be of good cheer…”
Matthew 9:22
Lonely, desperate, and destitute she did everything she knew to get well. Doctors bilked her out of her money, and for twelve years the woman with the issue of blood suffered. But then one day it all changed – all she suffered for those years were erased with an encounter with Jesus.
She pressed through on the ground between the legs and feet of the crowd to touch Jesus’ garment in faith, believing that she will be healed. When Jesus turned to see who it was that touched Him, and His eyes met hers she felt a warmth and love and acceptance that she had never encountered before.
For years people avoided eye contact with this woman – and that’s how people react who don’t know what else to tell you or how to help you with your long-standing problem. But Jesus looked her in her eyes and made life a changing announcement, “Daughter be of good cheer your faith has made you whole.”
When He called her ‘Daughter’ He reinstated in into a family; she was no longer an outcast from society, from family, from church… Jesus restored her dignity, not just as a woman, but as a person who belonged (See Matthew 9:18-22).
There are things far greater than physical healing and that is the restoration of one’s dignity; one’s self-respect, one’s sense of worthiness. With one touch this woman with long-standing issues was restored to a meaningful life.
Situations and even people may have made you feel less than, but the Lord calls you ‘Daughter;’ He calls you ‘Son.’ You are no longer an outcast; you belong to His family – accepted in the Beloved. You are restored today!
