By Charlie Gray

Frustrated abit by the busyness of life, I was inspired last week by the story found in Mark 5:33.  A desperate woman shaking with fear had come to see Jesus.  She was in a bind and had exhausted all her options. When the opportunity came, she knelt and told Jesus her story.

The woman was sick, broke and hopeless.  For her, meeting Jesus on his trip though town was a hit or miss gamble. The place was crowded but she had to take a shot.  Making her way through the crowd, she reached out and touched the hem of his garment.  And when she touched Jesus, her bleeding stopped.  “’Who touched me?’ Jesus asked”.  The woman hesitated to respond.  Jesus asked again.  And this time she spoke up.  

How long had it been since someone had listened to her story?  Jesus had reason not to do so.  He was on the move. His ministry had him on the run with things to do and places to be.  But Jesus stopped and listened.  The miracle restored her health.  The listening restored her dignity.  And what he did next, the woman never forgot.  He called her “daughter”.  This is the only time in the Gospels that he called a woman by that name.

Jesus delivered the rarest of gifts: his full attention.  Regardless of our resources, we can give others our time.  You never know when a miracle might occur in the life of another by a simple gift of your time and attention.