Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. (Matthew 9:22 ESV)

When illness becomes a crisis, the physical and emotional effects are magnified for both the patient and family members. Words cannot explain how a person feels when faced with uncertain medical dilemmas. On top of that, the waiting period becomes an awful experience because time feels slow and hope appears far from everyone’s reach. Stress and panic often barge in like uninvited guests, and we are left swimming in an abyss of fear, grief, and chaos.

What I have noticed from personal experience is that my faith got hijacked from all those feelings. Combine them with a lack of sleep and you’ll get out of me an unkempt mind trying to figure out what to do next. This is where the love and support of other people held me up. Their gift of presence became my guiding compass, pointing me to God with prayer and supplementing any need that may have been forgotten during a crisis.

Their support freed me so I could cry out to God and ask him to heal my wife. And as I desparately read through my Bible, the Spirit of the Lord had me focus on the key words of today’s verse: “take heart” and “the woman was made well.”