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Ordinary Women… Extraordinary Faith

by Gail Rodgers

We don’t even know their names. Yet their stories, recorded in the Bible, feel strangely familiar. They could be your stories or mine…

One was a single mom, a widow. She had two boys and a huge debt. Her husband had been a religious man in the community. His death had left her destitute. Now the landlord was coming to take her two young boys to work for him to pay her debt. She was desperate. She ran to the home of Elijah, the local minister and sobbed out her story. Elijah, directed by God, asked her what she had left in her home. There wasn’t much. But she did have a small vial of oil left in her cupboard. Elijah told her to go home and borrow all the empty jars she could. Then he told her to take her boys, shut her door and begin to fill the jars with oil from the small vial she had.

This woman’s faith is extraordinary! She did just as Elijah said. I would have been tempted to write off such an outrageous idea. Yet she didn’t. She boldly went to her neighbors and gathered all the jars she could. She boldly took her boys inside her kitchen and reached for the oil. Can’t you just imagine the happy amazement this small, desperate family felt as they saw jar after jar fill to the brim with oil! After all were full the vial was still not empty. A miracle had happened right before their eyes.

This single mom ran to Elijah’s home to tell him the amazing news. He told her to go to market and sell the oil. There was enough money to pay her debt and take care of her boys as well. Her faith made the miracle possible. Without that mom’s faith nothing would have happened. Extraordinary faith from an ordinary woman!

The second woman is identified only as a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. Doctors had failed to find a cure for her. She lived when Jesus walked on the earth and she had heard of His ability to heal. As the crowds gathered one day to listen to Jesus teach, this weary woman made her way through the crowd. She believed He could heal. She believed if she could just touch the hem of His garment she too would be healed. With faith pounding in her heart she pushed through the crowd, reached out her hand and touched Him. Immediately her faith was rewarded and her bleeding stopped.

Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” He knew healing power had gone out from Him. The disciples asked Him why He would ask such a question as the crowd was pressing in all around Him. The woman stepped forward and identified herself. Jesus told her to go on her way because her faith had made her whole. Her faith was stronger than her fear and reached beyond her despair with hope.

Two women, two very different stories—yet faith burned in the hearts of both. They responded to their faith with action.

Would you have gathered the jars when you knew you did not have enough oil to fill them? Would you have pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment when doctors could do no more?

They had faith that overcame their fear. They had hearts desperate for God’s touch. They were women like you and me reaching out to find supernatural help from the God of the universe. He cared and He reached out to them in love.

What fear is eating at your heart today? Spend some time in the presence of Jesus. Find a quiet corner and run to Him with your anguish. Give your fear to Him and ask for faith that will overcome your fear. Trust Him with your need and ask Him to displace your fear with faith.

Our all-knowing, all-powerful, loving God knows the anxiety of your heart and the plight of your circumstance. Believe He will help you. Believe He will stabilize your heart and mind in the midst of your circumstance. Believe He cares where you are right now in your life.

Faith is what pleases God. Faith is what brings the victory. Faith overcomes fear. Reach out and touch Him today. Obey what He asks and let your heart be strengthened and refreshed. You can put your faith in God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Be an ordinary woman of extraordinary faith!

Reprinted with permission from Christian Women Today and Gail Rodgers

GAIL RODGERS draws from her own life experience in her roles as wife, mother of three, business woman and pastor to women. She has a passion for discovering and sharing how the Scriptures apply in very practical ways where we live and walk each day. She resides in Alberta, Canada with her family.