I

have to be honest: this story confuses me on my best day and angers

me on my worst. I have known many people with faith much stronger

than mine who have died from illnesses like cancer, heart disease,

and pneumonia. I can remember sitting in a small country church and

hearing a pastor express his belief that if anyone was battling an

illness like cancer, all they had to do was pray harder and have more

faith and they would be healed. My wife had to work hard to keep me

calm.

Even

so, Jesus says quite clearly that this woman was healed because of

her faith. So how do we understand the role that faith plays here?

First,

faith is planted and nurtured by God and grows in us because of

Jesus’ work in our lives. It is a product of his closeness to us.

While we do things to develop our faith, it is all in relationship to

God and not by our own works. Faith is from God, and this woman’s

healing happened in relationship with God through Christ.

Second,

Jesus says that this woman’s faith healed her. He doesn’t say

that everyone’s faith heals all things. To think that all illness

can and should be healed by the faith of the sick person isn’t what

Jesus means here. But Jesus is pointing out that faith is a strong

and important component of our lives.

God’s

gift of faith in us can do amazing things for us and for those around

us. Let’s ask God to increase our faith today.