One of the stories in the Bible that I really connect with the most is the story of the woman with the issue of blood. Though there are 3 accounts in the new testament in reference to this woman (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48) the accounts are not all that long, Mark's account being the most in-depth at 9 verses long.
In my own life I've suffered greatly, mostly internal torment, for nearly the same amount of time as this woman. I understand pain and suffering. From the text you can gather the sense of constant anxiety and panic this woman had as she lived with her disease and the total desperation that would drive her to get her healing. "For she said", if I BUT.. Her faith was so strong in Jesus that she didn't even need to have him heal her, she just needed to tap the power radiating through him and out of his clothes. I find this act similar to the pain of losing the person you love to a break up, separation or death. You may find yourself smelling their clothes in a way of connecting with memories by capturing their scent as you breathe in. It is an act of total desperation.
The most beautiful part of this story, to me, is that I can imagine Jesus as he turns to her, smiling, full of love, enlightening her as he describes what it really was that healed her. She heard, she said, she acted. "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole". The woman had healed herself.
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