A Faith That Won’t Quit: One More Reach

Devotional

Day 1: When Twelve Years Test Your "If Only"

The woman’s bleeding spanned twelve years—long enough for hope to fray. She’d spent everything, endured failed remedies, and faced social exile. Yet her whispered “if only I may touch His clothes” defied despair. Faith thrives not in the absence of struggle, but in the stubborn choice to reach when logic says retreat. Her story reminds us: desperation can be the birthplace of holy defiance. [01:08:17]

Now a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” (Mark 5:25–28, ESV)

Reflection: What “if only” prayer have you hesitated to voice because time has worn down your hope? How might this woman’s quiet determination invite you to risk reaching again?

Day 2: Faith That Outlives the Physicians’ Bills

Disappointment compounds pain. The woman’s funds drained, her body weakened, and her condition worsened despite experts’ efforts. Yet her faith didn’t collapse with her savings. True faith isn’t a transaction—it’s the unshakable residue left when human solutions crumble. Her story challenges us: will we let past failures veto future miracles? [01:27:35]

She had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. (Mark 5:26, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you “spent all you had” emotionally, spiritually, or physically without results? What might it look like to trust God’s economy over human ledger books today?

Day 3: Reaching When the Crowd Throngs

Ceremonially unclean, physically frail, socially shunned—the woman had every reason to stay hidden. Yet she pressed through the crowd, defiling herself publicly to touch holiness. Faith often demands moving toward Jesus when everything—tradition, fatigue, shame—says you shouldn’t qualify. Her reach teaches: proximity to Christ rewrites the rules. [01:28:50]

And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (Mark 5:29, ESV)

Reflection: What internal or external “crowd” makes you feel unworthy to approach Jesus now? How does her boldness challenge your assumptions about permission to seek healing?

Day 4: Transition Doesn’t Cancel Assignment

Abraham declared “we will come back” while climbing Moriah with knife and fire. The bleeding woman kept reaching amid societal transitions that labeled her untouchable. Seasons shift, but God’s call remains: heal the sick, gather the outcasts, proclaim hope. Our task isn’t suspended by uncertainty—it’s refined by it. [01:15:22]

And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5, ESV)

Reflection: What kingdom work have you paused during personal or communal transition? How might steady obedience in small things anchor you while waiting for clarity?

Day 5: Your Verse 29 Is Coming

For twelve verses, the woman bled, broke, and reached. Then verse 29: “immediately.” Faith’s timeline often feels like a comma, but God works the period. Her story insists: don’t let verse 25 define verse 29. What God has whispered in the struggle, He’ll proclaim in the breakthrough. [01:31:05]

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5b, ESV)

Reflection: What “verse 25” situation have you camped in as permanent? How might anticipating your “verse 29” shift your posture today?

Sermon Summary

Mark’s Gospel puts a certain woman before the reader, not by her name, family, education, position, or accomplishments, but by her problem. The text says she had an issue of blood for twelve years, suffered under many physicians, spent all she had, and only grew worse. Yet the woman’s condition did not get the last word, because the text introduces her problem and her miracle in the same sentence: she “had” an issue of blood.

Faith that will not quit is more than shouting when doors open, reports are good, money is flowing, and life is going according to plan. Faith shows up when life has stopped making sense. Faith says, “I don’t know how, but I still believe. I don’t know when, but I still believe.” Faith becomes visible when what is seen cannot explain what is believed.

The woman’s twelve years reveal a faith that kept standing through a long fight. She was bleeding, but still believing. She was hurting, but still hoping. She had lost money, strength, time, and perhaps relationships, but she had not lost her faith. Her history said she had been suffering for twelve years, but her faith said Jesus was here today. Faith refuses to let history have veto power over destiny, because a long season must not become a life sentence.

The woman’s disappointment also did not become her conclusion. She had tried, paid, searched, and still got worse. Her pain was not only sickness, but the exhaustion of doing everything she knew to do and not seeing change. Yet Jesus remained greater than every failed option. Faith does not let what did not work before stop belief in what God can do next.

The crowd, her weakened body, and her ceremonial uncleanness all told the woman to stay back. But faith gave her one more reason to move. Resistance did not mean she was going the wrong way. The woman did not need strength to understand everything; she needed enough faith to reach one more time. Her touch brought her from bleeding in verse 25, broke in verse 26, reaching in verse 27, touching in verse 28, and healed in verse 29.

Transition may change the season, but it does not cancel the assignment. The church must keep reaching for souls, families, the broken, and the lost. Christ reached first at Calvary, died, and rose early Sunday morning. Because He reached, faith can keep reaching.

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Key Takeaways

1. History cannot veto God’s destiny Faith refuses to read tomorrow only through the pain of yesterday. Long struggles can train the heart to expect permanence, but God’s character is not confined by a difficult record. The woman had suffered twelve years, yet Jesus entered her present with power to alter her future. [85:33]
2. Disappointment must not become conclusion The woman had spent everything and grew worse, so her faith was not built on easy outcomes. Deep disappointment comes when prayer, love, service, and effort seem to produce no change. Faith does not deny that pain, but it refuses to call a failed attempt the final word. [87:02]
3. Keep reaching through resistance The crowd, weakness, and shame gave the woman every reason to stay back. Resistance can be real without being a sign to quit. Faith sometimes means moving beyond what is comfortable because Jesus is still worth reaching for. [88:50]
4. One encounter can change everything Twelve years of suffering gave way to an immediate healing when the woman touched Jesus. Verse 29 reminds discouraged hearts that a long story can turn suddenly by the power of Christ. The delay before the breakthrough does not diminish the reality of God’s ability to move. [89:47]
5. The church still has one reach Transition cannot cancel the church’s assignment to reach souls, families, the broken, and the lost. Christ’s people must not become so consumed with what is changing that they forget what has never changed. The Great Commission remains in force until Jesus returns.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[65:59] - Encouragement for a Rough Week
[66:18] - Mark 5 and the Woman’s Healing
[69:06] - A Faith That Won’t Quit
[70:37] - Faith When Life Stops Making Sense
[72:28] - Faith Tested by Time
[75:22] - Problem and Miracle in One Sentence
[77:04] - Still Believing After Twelve Years
[78:34] - Transition Does Not Cancel Assignment
[80:49] - One More Reach
[85:33] - History Is Not Destiny
[87:02] - Surviving Disappointment
[88:50] - Reaching Through Resistance
[89:47] - Moving to Verse 29
[95:38] - Reach for Souls and Families
[98:04] - Invitation to Christ and Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 5:25-34
“And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” [01:06:18]

Matthew 28:19-20
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [01:19:55]

2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” [01:29:43]

Observation questions

What details does Mark give about the woman’s condition, her efforts to be healed, and the outcome of those efforts before she came to Jesus? [01:07:40]
What did the woman hear, say, and do as she made her way through the crowd toward Jesus?
How did Jesus respond after the woman touched Him, and what words did He speak to her at the end of their encounter? [01:08:29]
According to Matthew 28:19–20, what ongoing assignment did Jesus give His followers, and how does that connect with the call to reach souls, families, the broken, and the lost? [01:19:10]

Interpretation questions

Why is it important that the woman’s suffering is described as lasting twelve years, and how can a long struggle begin to shape a person’s expectations about the future? [01:25:39]
The woman had tried many physicians, spent all she had, and grew worse. What does her decision to come to Jesus show about faith after disappointment? [01:27:23]
The crowd, her weakened body, and her uncleanness all stood between the woman and Jesus. Why does resistance not always mean a person is moving in the wrong direction? [01:28:50]
Jesus says, “Your faith has made you well.” How does this moment show that faith is more than positive thinking and becomes visible in the way a person responds to Jesus? [01:10:48]

Application questions

Is there an area of life where a long season has started to feel permanent—health, grief, family trouble, finances, loneliness, or something else? What would it look like to refuse to let that history have the final word? [01:26:21]
Where have you been tempted to say, “I tried, I prayed, I served, and it still did not work”? How can you honestly name the disappointment without allowing it to become your conclusion? [01:27:55]
What is one “more reach” God may be inviting you to make this week—asking for prayer, returning to Scripture, repairing a relationship, seeking help, serving again, or taking a needed step of faith? [01:24:25]
What resistance is making it difficult for you to move toward Jesus or obey Him right now? How can you tell the difference between a wise warning to pause and resistance that should not make you quit? [01:29:07]
In what practical ways can this group walk by faith rather than only by what is seen, especially when someone’s circumstances have not changed yet? [01:34:14]
During seasons of change, how can we keep the church’s assignment in front of us? Identify one person, family, or need in the community that you can help reach with the love and hope of Jesus this week. #!!1:19:48!!

Sermon Clips

55s

“She was bleeding, but she was still believing. She was hurting, but she was still hoping. had been disappointed, but she was still determined. She lost the money. She lost her strength. She lost time and probably lost relationships, but she never lost her faith. And maybe that is the word god sent me here this morning to tell somebody, you may have lost some things, but don't lose your faith.”

48s

“And watch this. It's powerful. In other words, believers do not interpret tomorrow solely through the lens of yesterday. We interpret tomorrow through the promise and the character of God. Her history said, you've been bleeding for twelve years. Her faith said, but Jesus is here today. that's the tension of faith. Hear me, child of God. What has been true about you does not have to remain true for you. Oh, I just said something. Be careful be careful about turning a long season into a life sentence.”

82s

“Find somebody around you and tell them, I don't know what you're going through, but you gotta have a faith that won't quit. You've gotta have a faith that won't quit. Let me start the conversation off by sharing that there is a difference between having faith and having faith that can survive a fight. Because anybody can talk about faith when the doors are opening. Anybody can praise God when the report is good. The family is together. The money is flowing. The church is growing. And everything is happening according to plan. But the real examination of faith is not what you believe when life is cooperating with you. The real examination of faith is what you still believe when life has stopped making sense.”

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