“When Pain Gets A Voice”

Series Title: The Story That Speaks Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 07/19/26 (3rd Sunday Message)

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{All scriptures are “NIV84” unless stated}

New Series:

The Story That Speaks

Each of us has a story.

We’re going to talk about what that story means. and the power of sharing it.

Why you should be sharing your story.

Message Title:

“When Pain Gets A Voice”

When Pain Has A Voice

We’ve been talking about the story that speaks.

How our story is powerful and life changing…when we tell it.

Today we’re talking more about silent testimonies…

those things the Lord has done for us we have yet to share.

Because the Lord has done some mighty things for us.

The Lord Doesn’t Just Heal What Hurt You. He Gives Your Story A Voice

We have a new diary this week.

Creative Diary:

I’ve heard people talk about pain. I’ve had pain. Twelve years is a long time to hurt. Twelve years is a long time to wake up hoping today will be diﬀerent, only to go to bed with the same problem you woke up with. Twelve years is long enough to start wondering if this situation will ever change. I went to the physicians. I listened to their instructions. I tried what they told me to try. I took what they gave me. I gave what I had. I spent what I could. I kept believing that maybe this treatment would work.

Maybe this visit would be the one. Maybe this time, somebody would

finally be able to help me. But instead of getting better, I got worse. And after a while, the pain was not just in my body anymore. It changed the way I saw myself.

It changed the way I walked. It changed the way I looked at people, wondering if they could see the embarrassment on my face. It aﬀected my hope.It weakened my voice. Because when you hurt long enough, you learn how to suﬀer quietly. You learn how to say, “I’m fine,” even when you’re not. And I was tired. Tired of explaining. Tired of hoping. Mostly tired of being disappointed. Then I heard about some holy man stopping in town. I had heard he was someone who had been known to heal. There were stories of people who went in to see him with diﬀerent conditions and came out better. I don’t know why but something in me believed that if He could heal others, maybe He could heal me too. I did not have a perfect plan. I really at this point didn’t have anything.

But I had faith. I got to where he was…but it was too late, he was walking through and had JUST passed by and so had my opportunity to speak to him. But I didn’t come all

the way out here with this to go back home with it. And my faith told me, “If I can get close enough to touch His clothes, I will be made whole.” So I pressed through the crowd. Every person around me reminded me of how easy it would have been to stay hidden. But pain had been speaking long enough. Some people didn’t want to move, so I had to push my way through. For twelve years, everything had been pushing back against me. This time, I was pushing back. Nothing was going to stop me. So many road blocks… So many failures. This time, this faith I had was going to speak.

I knew this would work…I knew it as strongly as I knew my name.

After all the pushing and pressing through…there was one line I wouldn’t be able to get through. But I made it this far…all I could do was reach out my hand. But I KNEW if I could just touch the smallest part of his CLOTHES…I’d be better. I only managed to get a brush of his clothes But when I touched Him, something changed. Immediately, I knew. I could feel it! The bleeding stopped. The suﬀering broke. The thing that had followed me for twelve years finally had to let me go. Before I could quietly leave, Jesus stopped. He asked, “Who touched Me?”

The crowd was pressing Him from every side, but I knew he was talking about me. I told Him the whole truth. Not the clean version. I told Him all of it. And He did not shame me. He did not push me away. He did not call me by my issue. He called me daughter. After twelve years of pain, Jesus gave me more than healing. He gave my pain a voice. He gave my story a testimony.

This comes from the woman with the issue of blood. Her story is in Matt, Mk and Luke.

We’re going to read from Mark 5:25-34

And we’re going to give 4 points like last week.

Point 1: Pain Can Silence More Than Your Body

Before we get into how it silenced her…let’s talk about that pain.

Mark 5:25

25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.

There was a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. This was also considered dealing with hemorrhages.

She had been dealing with this for 12 years.

There are things we carry that aﬀect more than just the area aﬀected…

Some Pain Doesn’t Just Hurt You; It Teaches You How To Hide Internally

Mark 5:26

26 She had suﬀered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.

This condition was causing her to suﬀer… For 12 years…she didn’t just suﬀer physically. She suﬀered mentally

She suﬀered emotionally How do we know?

Under Jewish law…it talks about this.

Leviticus 15:25-27

talked about how women were at the time.

they had moments of time when they were considered unclean.. but it was only for a short amount of time.

she suﬀered from the condition… for 12 years…

it aﬀected her mentality because the law said she was constantly unclean.

it aﬀected her relationships because if someone touched her or her things… they would be unclean also.

This was something she was carrying.

although people may not have known on the outside

inside she was dealing with embarrassment. she was dealing with belonging…

possibly feeling untouchable and unwanted But this isn’t unique to her.

Many of us are carrying pain no one else knows about. Some of us are walking around with smiles on our faces. We come to church…

Say we’re fine.

but internally we’re suﬀering.

It’s not intentional…

but the pain has taught us to silence what’s really going on.

This is how bad it can get.

That pain becomes part of us… it changes us.

This shows how bad pain can be. But it leads us to the next point:

Point 2: Someone Else’s Story Can Awaken Your Faith

Mark 5:27(a)

27 When she heard about Jesus….

That’s it.

When she HEARD about Jesus.

She heard about a man who could help her.

Why Would She Think Jesus Could Help? What Could She Have Heard About Jesus?

there was a man who was healing people.

maybe she heard from someone who had been healed. maybe she heard from someone who saw it.

maybe she heard 3rd hand information.

She heard enough to decide that there was a chance that what he did for someone else… it could happen for her.

THIS is why we have to tell our story. you never know who’s listening!

Sometimes Your Testimony Becomes The Push Someone Needs To Believe!

Sometimes we’re quiet with what the Lord has done for us because it only matters to us. The stories you share can cause people to believe again!

Mark 5:27-28

27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

So when she heard what happened for others…

she allowed her faith to make her think it could happen for her.

The bible says she spent all she had to be made well… time and time again being let down…

yet she hears a man coming through who was healing people. how much did it cost?

he was doing it for free!!

what person does things like this for no charge?

yet she developed a faith that believed that THIS man would be the answer.

Your Story Is A Faith Builder For Someone Else!

You don’t know how people may have prayed for a sign… a sign that the Lord is still there - listening to them.

All it takes is for you to tell someone…

“let me tell you about someone who did something for me.”

We recommend movies and shows. restaurants, contractors, doctors but while you’re talking of the greatness of these things…

don’t forget the MOST important one!

Tell them in a way so they develop faith like this woman. “If the Lord doesn’t heal anyone else today…

he’s going to heal ONE.”

“If the Lord doesn’t open a door for anyone else today… he’s going to do it for one.”

Give Someone Your Story So THEIR Faith Can Be Built Up!

So what happens?

In Matthew a man came up to him and asked him to go heal his daughter who was dying.

So Jesus was on his way.

Matthew 9:20-21

20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

It cuts right to it.

In Mark where we’re getting most of the info from there is more context.

Mark 5:21

21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a

large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.

a LARGE crowd gathered. Jesus wasn’t by himself.

at this point…with the large crowd there..

The man approaches Jesus to ask for him with his daughter.

Mark 5:24

24 So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

So the same crowd that was already there now goes with them.

And THIS is where the woman comes up.

with this large crowd of people there around pressing into Jesus. In Luke it says the crowd almost “crushed” him.

a pressing crowd…a crushing crowd… So imagine that.

and imagine what the woman walks up on.

When she gets there…

there’s already others there.

and it’s a TIGHTLY packed crowd around where she wants to go.

This leads to point number 3.

Point 3: Faith Will Have To Press Through Obstacles In Your Way

This came at a bad moment for her.

She just convinced herself that Jesus could be the one to change things for her. Yet when she gets there.

she can’t get close.

and it’s soul crushing.

12 years of this…to be denied here.

it brings back the shame, exhaustion, failed treatments, broken hope, public embarrassment and even weakness.

Many people would let their faith be aﬀected here.

You might have strong faith

you might believe that this will be the call. this will be the day

this will be the moment that your prayers will get answered. yet on that day…

you have a “crowd moment” something shows up to block you.

But this is where we can learn from her.

her faith didn’t get her time to be distracted…

her faith told her her healing was on the other side of that crowd.

From the diary we made:

“For 12 years everything had been pushing back against me…this time, I’m pushing back.”

She refused to be blocked by anyone.

Faith Does Not Always Remove The Crowd; Sometimes Faith Gives You The Courage To Press Through It!

This story convinced her to get her healing! Your story needs to be told!

Even if it’s just to convince others to not give up.

when your faith presses through when everything else wants to stop.

So she makes it to Jesus.

and although she didn’t get close enough to touch “HIM” she touched his clothes.

Mark 5:29-34

29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suﬀering. 30 At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suﬀering.”

So she knew immediately something happened. She felt things stop immediately.

The bible says that Jesus realized the power had gone out of him. He asked who touched him.

ALL types of people touching him… how can you ask about one?

This gives a specific point.

Others Might Make Contact, But Your Faith Can Make A Connection!

there was a moment when out of all the people… ONE made a diﬀerence…

the one who believed more than anything… her healing would come today.

and her faith was SO strong… the bible said the power left him.

So the woman comes…and falls at his feet and tells the whole truth. And Jesus tells her that that type of faith has healed her…

This goes into something very strong for us to remember.

“Point 4: Jesus Doesn’t Use Your Story To Shame You

- He Completes It”

We stated earlier how she was unclean. She was unclean in the eyes of others. She was unfit to touch anything.

Due to something she couldn’t control….she was ALWAYS unclean.

Yet those SAME unclean hands the woman had… touched Jesus.

Someone else would be considered unclean as well… but that was someone else.

Because when she finally touched the RIGHT one. that touch didn’t make her unclean…

it didn’t make HIM unclean… it made HER whole.

THAT is the love of the LORD.

he isn’t afraid to be approached by what others dismiss. he welcomes with open arms what others walk away from.

and just like he’d do on the cross…

he takes what is broken, unclean, doubtful, and shame-covered… and makes it whole.

Some of you might have been put into a situation where you feel like you’re being punished for something that’s not your fault.

You might look at your situation and feel like you have no choice

you might have done all you could…yet the situation is still there and OTHERS remind you of what it is.

Others might tell you that you’re too old.

they might say you’re divorced and used up. they might say that you’re not smart enough. that you’re not qualified for this or that.

that they can’t be around you because you’d “lower them.” Yet there is someone whose love isn’t also wrapped in judgment.

he doesn’t say they love you while looking down on you. he doesn’t treat you with disgust…

he will treat you with love every time.

HE will call you son, or daughter. That is the love of our God.

{closing}

Last week, we heard about a man who said:

“One thing I know…I was blind, but now I see.”

This week we see a woman who told Jesus the whole truth…

her faith was greater than many of those who were already following Jesus.

but she HEARD about this man from someone who wasn’t afraid to talk about what he’d done. Some testimonies might be simple…

Some might be painful…

but ALL of them speak.

Last week I asked you to think about your story. today I’m asking you to share it.

mystory@guidinglight.org

there are people who are here today looking for a move of God in their lives. Many of you are sitting on stories that can elevate their faith just like the woman. It doesn’t matter how long things have been bad…

The Lord can change it.

They NEED your story.

Send it to us so we can tell of how our God is a healer.