SEEKING PEACE IN PERSONAL SUFFERING (MARK 5:23b-34)

REFLECTION The theme for our reflection is “Seeking peace in personal suffering” Seeking peace is yearning for God’s presence and security that guarantees one’s well-being. Personal suffering is the experience of physical, emotional, or psychological distress, pain, and hardship that is unique to an individual. It is a subjective experience that can result from illness, trauma,…

Jean-Paul Agidi

Nov 4, 2025

2–3 minutes

bible, christianity, faith, god, jesus

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “Seeking peace in personal suffering” Seeking peace is yearning for God’s presence and security that guarantees one’s well-being. Personal suffering is the experience of physical, emotional, or psychological distress, pain, and hardship that is unique to an individual. It is a subjective experience that can result from illness, trauma, loss, or a lack of meaning, and it affects a person’s well-being and overall quality of life. Seeking peace in personal suffering, therefore, means trusting and praying to experience the glory of God that brings healing and restoration in the midst of agony or discomfort. We shall reflect on the fact that faith is the requirement in seeking peace in personal suffering.

Beloved in the Lord, we experience peace that surpasses all understanding in times of personal suffering if we have faith in Jesus, our healer and sustainer. Mark 5:23b-34 narrates the story of Jesus healing a woman with a chronic illness. She had been subjected to bleeding for 12 years without any remedy. The passage illustrates Jesus’ compassion and power, emphasising that healing comes through faith. Fear and anxiety breed despair and insecurity in our personal sufferings. The woman has taught us that restoration and peace come when we are focused on the healer and not the suffering. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mark 5:34) Dear friend, Isaiah further assures us that “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31) You may be going through some kind of personal suffering and wondering if you will ever be restored. Remember it took 12 agonising years for this woman to be freed from her condition. The number of years of suffering becomes irrelevant when faith is activated. Indeed, the number of years becomes irrelevant when touching Jesus through constant prayer. David in his relationship with God experience peace in his personal suffering hence he declared, “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalms 103:1-5) You have no reason to give up but have every reason to keep your faith active through persistent prayer, for we experience peace in suffering through the restorative power of the Holy Spirit.

In summary, we have discovered that faith is indispensable in our walk with God. Faith is the requirement in seeking peace in personal suffering. Through faith, we experience peace and restoration through the precious and mighty name of Jesus and the ever-presence of the Holy Spirit. Shalom.

PRAYER

May the Holy Spirit strengthen our faith in times of suffering so that we shall experience the peace that is borne out of God’s divine presence and restoration. Amen.