Faith in A Great God

September 2014 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Faith In A Great God

“Touched the hem of His garment ... took her by the hand.” —Matthew 9:18-26 NKJV

We may remember the story of a heartbroken father who spoke to the Lord Jesus about his 12 year-old daughter who had just died. The Lord Jesus agreed to go with him, but along the way a woman who had a hemorrhage (a flow of blood) for 12 years touched the hem of His garment and was healed. After that event, the Lord continued on to the young girl’s house and, taking her by the hand, gave her life.

God has joined these two stories together to give us a complete picture of our salvation from both man’s side and God’s. We are like the woman in our helplessness and uncleanness and similar to the young girl in our lifelessness before God. But a person by faith, however so slight, may simply touch the hem of His garment and be made whole. He, by His mighty hand, grasps ours and gives us life!

Notice that this word “took” when He “took her by the hand” is actually a much stronger word in the Greek which means “seized” or “grasped.” It is related to the word for “might” and “power.” What a wonderful thought! Our faith may be ever so weak and faint, but His mighty hand is infinitely strong and powerful. We shall never perish and no one can pluck us from His or His Father’s hand. So trust, dear believer, not in your feeble touch but in His mighty grasp. The respected missionary to China, J. Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), once expressed the matter this way: “The issue is not greater faith, but faith in a great God.”

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods.” —Psalm 95:1-3

By Mike Stello