Fiction Friday! – Interview With the Woman With the Issue of Blood – Part 1

Interview with the Woman With the Issue of Blood
Part 1
Account taken from Mark 5:25-34

For our last set of interviews of Nameless Women in the Gospels, we shall spend some time with the woman with the issue of blood.

Q – Thank you for allowing us to probe your memory of your encounter with the Savior. Yours is a story that is not told often, but one which particularly women hold dear.  First of all, as the author of the biblical fiction novella about you, I’m curious to know if you like the name I gave you.

A – (Smiling) Of course, I do. Do you like your name?

Q – I do. That’s why I gave it to you as well. Years ago I learned that “Golden” in Hebrew is “Zahava.” And although an unusual name in English, in your culture it is fairly common.

A – That’s right, but I still think it is beautiful. And your mother’s name was Lois as well, correct?

Q – Yes. I just thought that would be fun. I suppose I would like to ask you about the difficulty of being chronically ill. What was the most difficult part of that journey for you?

A – There are so many aspects to being chronically ill. The isolation and misunderstanding of the family, the hopelessness of living year to year without relief, the weakening of one’s physical strength, and – in my case – the heartache of miscarriage after miscarriage. I hated what it did to my relationship with my husband. He was so patient and never gave up, but it was very difficult for us. I think after the illness continued for so many years, it had to be the hopelessness. There were times I wanted to die – even considered suicide.

Q – That’s a pretty extreme thought.

A – It was an extreme condition.

Q – Gideon sought out many physicians to try to help you through the years.

A – Yes, he never gave up, but I wearied of seeing physician after physician. The bizarre things they did to my body, the awful concoctions I had to drink, the contortions they put me through were beyond belief.

Q – Were any of them able to help you?

A – Not for long. Sometimes there was temporary relief, but nothing permanent. I think actually the temporary relief was partly because I wanted so badly for something to work. I willed it to be so. But the bleeding always came back.

Q – You even tried some Egyptian remedies that Hasini, your servant, made up for you.

A – She had oils and herbs that were soothing, and they gave me as much relief as anything, but nothing really helped.

Q – Tell us about the first time you met Jesus.

A – It was on our way to see yet another physician. We stopped to pick up some items Gideon had commissioned Jesus’s father, Joseph, to make for us. Jesus was working in the carpenter shop and customized a chair for me to ride in on my donkey.

Q – Did you sense anything different about him?

A – Not really. He was just a kind, young man, whose family was very hospitable to us. Little did I know that this ordinary looking man would change my life in the years to come.

Q – Did you ever think about why he didn’t heal you at that time? Surely he knew your problem even then.

A – I did at first, but then I realized that healing comes in God’s timing. It was not Jesus’s time, nor was it mine.

Q – We shall continue with this interview next week. Thank you, Zahava!

Questions for my readers

Have you experienced a chronic illness yourself or in someone very near to your life?
What ways have you coped with this major life challenge?
What ways have you felt the Lord help you along the journey toward healing?
Have you felt hopeless at times?
Have you experienced miraculous healing from the Lord?

 

To read chapter one of ‘Hopeless’ click HERE.

To order your own copy of ‘Hopeless’ click HERE.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog and newsletter below. You will receive my modern short story version of ‘Trapped: The Adulterous Woman’ in your thank you email.

 

The post Fiction Friday! – Interview With the Woman With the Issue of Blood – Part 1 appeared first on Golden Keyes Parsons.