Patience is not my strong suit. I try really hard, but there are days when I am not very successful. I have an expectation in my mind, and I like to have things work out the way I have planned.

Perhaps the crowd in the street that day felt the same way. Everyone had come to see Jesus and was expecting something to happen.

More than likely, what happened that day was a lot more than they were expecting.

First, a religious leader was desperate for his daughter to be made well. She was dying, and the only hope that Jairus had left was for Jesus to come and heal her. After hearing about her, Jesus started down the road to where the little girl was. He planned to go there and change the situation.

Then, what no one else saw was the desperation of a woman who had been ill for over twelve years and who believed she would be well if only she could touch Jesus. And what no one expected was that Jesus would stop in the crowd to find the woman. Jairus was running out of time, and he needed Jesus to keep walking. The woman wasn’t even expecting Jesus to stop and ­address her.

What I love about this story is that Jesus had time for both. Jesus always has time for us, whether we are patient or not.