Fola Komolafe

And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” But His disciples said to Him, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?'” And He looked around to see her who had done this thing. Mark 5:30-32 (NKJV)

I was at a meeting recently where we were having a general discussion about supporting different groups of people. It was an enlightening discussion and as it went on, I could not help thinking about how we could potentially lose the individual person in a crowd and easily stop seeing their unique needs and the yearnings of their heart. Other people feel more comfortable in the crowd where they blend in and are not noticed. However, I believe Jesus would challenge us not to be in the crowd and also to see each another in the crowd. Using words like everyone and every person, whilst understandable in some situations, could stop us really seeing each other, reaching out to one another and trying to understand one another.

In the ministry of Jesus, the crowd seemed to be in the way! On occasions the bible would describe the crowd being put away.  For example, when Jesus went to the ruler’s house in Matthew 9:23-25 and the wailing crowd had to be put outside so he could raise the girl up. On that same day as Jesus was going to the ruler’s house there was one woman who decided to stand out of the crowd and because of this Jesus noticed her and she was healed. She is described as a certain woman who had heard about Jesus, and despite the oppositions of the crowd around her, she came behind Him in the crowd taking a bold step to touch Him because of her faith. Immediately, the bible says, she was healed of the affliction. Also, immediately Jesus turned around and saw her saying, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your affliction (Mark 5:34).”

Our lives can be so busy, so scheduled that people can’t connect to us and we don’t have time or space to see people around us. All you see is the crowd, you hear their noise, you know they are there, but you miss out on all the incredible possibilities of divine connection where God could flow through you to someone else. God wants to use you to fulfil scripture and one of those scriptures say, “for the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).”

I want to encourage you to also not settle for just being in the crowd, but let your faith in God stand you out. I am reminded of the account of the paralytic and his friends who refused to be in the crowd waiting, hoping and doing nothing whilst Jesus was in the room and their friend needed healing. Luke 5:19 says, “And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.” Jesus saw them, their faith got His attention, and their friend was healed. Do not stay in the crowd but be bold and courageous letting your faith stand you out. Yes, dare to be different from everyone because you are a wonderful, unique and peculiar person before your God. Exodus 23:2 says, “You must not follow the crowd…”

Note – For more teachings visit ‘The Fresh Inspiration’ podcasts on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud:

iTunes/Apple Podcasts: ‎Fresh Inspiration Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Spotify: Fresh Inspiration Podcast | Podcast on Spotify

Soundcloud: Fresh Inspiration | Free Listening on SoundCloud

If you are not yet a partner with Fresh Inspiration, we would like to ask you to consider supporting our work in delivering hope to millions of people around the world. If you would like to become a partner kindly setup a standing order for your donations to Fresh Inspiration using the account details below and please let us know by completing our  'become a partner form' on our website. Thank you.