One of the most critical healing stories in Scripture is that of the woman with the issue of blood. She had been bleeding for twelve years straight. Can you imagine? She had suffered for so long that she was desolate, hoping for a miracle. She had seen doctor after doctor, and her condition only worsened. Yet twelve years of waiting had not destroyed her faith; it had refined it, positioning her for a moment that would change everything.
Perhaps you can relate. The doctors told you there was nothing more they could do. Maybe you’ve been praying over and over, and you’re still struggling. I beg you: Keep praying. God answers those who call on His name, and at the right moment, He will bring a sudden manifestation of healing. I know it can be exhausting to keep praying when things don’t seem to be changing. But what if you stopped right before the breakthrough? What if you gave up right before Jesus was about to enter the scene? Healing isn’t just something God does; the healer is who He is. Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals, has not changed. I cannot guarantee you a timeline, but I can guarantee that He will walk with you through the process.
Years ago, I heard about something called the Dalton Miracle Bible in Georgia. Videos were posted online of a Bible oozing oil, and people who touched it shared incredible testimonies of being healed. Recently, the Lord brought this story to my mind, so I looked into it again. It turns out this entire thing imploded, with the owner of the Bible supposedly caught buying the oil out of Tractor Supply. Yet some people testified that they were physically healed after touching the Bible’s oil. So I asked the Lord why He would remind me of this if the whole thing were a sham. He responded with a question: “What do you think healed them? Was it the oil that healed them?”
I realized it was not the oil. It was their faith. It was the faith of people who believed that if they could reach out, God would meet them. Ultimately, their faith tugged at the heart of God, the ultimate healer.
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So it was with the woman with the issue of blood. Scripture records her saying, “If I may touch His garments, I shall be healed” (Mark 5:28). The woman was so desperate that she believed even touching something belonging to Jesus would bring healing.
What do you think happened next? “Immediately her hemorrhage dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction” (v. 29).
After years of suffering, the woman was healed in an instant because of her faith in Jesus. Faith comes by hearing, and this hearing comes from the Word of God. Clearly, she had heard that Jesus was the Messiah, the One who could bring complete healing and wholeness.
So often, we block our own deliverance by staying stuck in fear, lust, pride, religiosity, or dissociation instead of trusting God fully. Sometimes, the greatest obstacle to healing is not God’s willingness but our hesitation to reach for Him.
Letting go can be scary, and sometimes we may not even be sure how to do it. Start by asking God what He requires of you. He will give you direction. Whether it’s through prayer, declaring His Word, studying Scripture, fasting, or serving others, He will provide the solution for you.
Right after the woman was healed, the Bible says, “At once, Jesus knew within Himself that power had gone out of Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched My garments?’” (v. 30). Obviously, Jesus knew who touched Him. The point was for her to be seen and known by Him.
The disciples didn’t quite understand this, telling Jesus that many people had been pressing in on Him, touching Him. But Jesus knew her and, with such vigorous love and passion, took this moment to pursue her fully. She came trembling, though there was no reason for it. The next thing that happened was that the woman came before Jesus and fell down, telling Him “the entire truth” (v. 33). She needed Jesus, and she let Him know.
And Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (v. 34). Her suddenly moment did not end with healing alone; it concluded with peace and restoration.
Maybe you need a miracle. All it takes is a mustard seed of faith to completely change a situation. Your suddenly may come after years of waiting, but when it comes, it will be unmistakable. All He desires is that we reach out and grasp the hem of His garment.
Do You Want to Be Well?
Another story that we’ll touch on is one of my personal favorite healing stories. Here, we have a group of
sick and disabled people—some unable to walk, some unable to see, others paralyzed—all lying near a pool believed to have healing powers. Almost like a lottery; whoever entered the water first was the one to receive healing. But God didn’t come just for a few lucky ones to be set free—He came for all, and He was never limited by human systems of access or effort.
Jesus visited this pool and found a man who had been there for thirty-eight years.
Thirty-eight years of bondage.
Thirty-eight years of waiting for God to deliver.
To put this in perspective, that is almost as long as the Israelites wandered in the desert.
Can you imagine spending nearly forty years of your life waiting by a pool, believing the only way you will ever be healed is through a superstitious source of water? I can’t even begin to imagine the mental chains this would have placed on someone over time. All I know is this: Sometimes the wait is painful, but God always has a suddenly moment when chains will break for good, even when we’ve learned to survive without freedom.
Jesus looked at the man and simply asked, “Do you want to be healed?” ( John 5:6).
Why would He ask that? Because everyone wants relief, but not everyone wants the change that healing requires. Healing often demands surrender: letting go of our own ways and familiar patterns, even when those patterns feel safer than the unknown. It requires dying to self and trusting God with the outcome.
The man didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he gave Jesus every excuse for why he hadn’t been healed yet. Sometimes we try to explain away the miraculous when God wants to do something supernatural in us. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean God is done working on what He has prepared. He told Jesus why he couldn’t make it to the water and the trauma he had endured from everyone who kept stepping on him. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t done this.
During one season, I felt God asking me to keep moving forward, to keep putting my hand to the plow even when I felt unsure. I realized that sometimes the greater sin is sitting in self-pity instead of believing that movement can be healing.
But that’s not what Jesus asked. Jesus asked whether he wanted to be healed. While healing sometimes demands the impossible of us, God is able to help us, in our weakness, do what we could never do on our own.
So Jesus gave the man a task that would’ve been impossible for him to do on his own: “‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ Immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked” ( John 5:8–9).
Ultimately, when it comes to receiving true healing and deliverance, we must be willing to trust God enough to move when He speaks. We must step out of the comfort of what we know—even if that comfort is pain—and believe that He will meet us with the power we lack.
To be delivered means we stop striving in our own strength and trust that God can break every chain that has held us—even the ones we’ve learned to live with.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the new book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment, which is available on Amazon.com.
