For those who suffer without relief, her story echoes through time.
In a moment so significant that it has transcended 2000 years of history, this woman reached out in faith after all possibilities of recovery had been exhausted. Twelve years of struggle had brought her to this moment. With a mere ounce of hope and unshakable courage she pressed through a crowd, knowing their fear of her ailment, to reach the man through whom miracles were happening. "Yeshua" was the sound of his name, heard like raindrops resonating from rooftops. Her peace, dignity and life were at stake. While others pressed in against him she reached through them thinking "If only I could touch him." The instant her fingers touched the hem of his garment, she was healed.
In 1995 a spine injury left me in severe pain after necessary surgery. The doctors and physical therapists had done all they could. Monarch butterflies began to appear in my life as reassurance of hope from heaven, like love letters on the wings of wind. The image of this woman's story was carved on the landscape of my imagination with a beckoning whisper, "Draw her, draw her, draw her." Leaning in the heat of pain against the drawing board in my small country studio, her face and the butterflies where etched on my heart as my pencil moved across paper. I too was pressing through a crowd of suffering and anxious thoughts, with hope that I would draw into the peace of God's presence and be relieved. In those moments, pain like drops of sweat, began to release along with a portion of my suffering. There is always hope. Even if our sufferings are not fully healed on this side of heaven, I am a witness to the mystery and miracle of dwelling in the spirit of love that moved through Christ Jesus. In divine love, our spirits are stronger than our afflictions; and though we suffer, the tyranny of suffering will not prevail.
In the past years my heart has deeply ached and prayed for all in the world who are suffering physical ailments, injury, grief, depression, violence, hunger, war, homelessness, poverty and so much more.
I have released prints of this drawing for all who are inspired by her story to hope in the spirit of God's love. I pray this image and her story will inspire hope for all who are enduring suffering.
This woman's story is found in Luke 8:40-48 of the Christian Bible. From my heart to yours, God's peace!