4,380. I am not a numbers girl. Numbers are only important to me in terms of the temperature and percentage off sales. I wish I was kidding. I’m not.

Last night, that changed a bit. I was invited to speak at a local ministry that has a transitional living center for homeless families. I spent hours preparing a talk and praying fervently that it would be relatable and relevant. As women trickled in, I sensed a stirring in my spirit. These were not ordinary women. They were radiant. They embodied courage and tenacity-unparalleled. They were gracious. They were open-handed.

They have every reason to be the opposite of everything I just said. Their experiences and stories are laced with hard things. You know the people who are fighting cancer, but manage to spread hope and leak joy? The ones that you think would need that from you? Well, these precious sisters were the joy leakers last night.

As part of the teaching, we looked at the story of the sick woman in Mark 5. The one that had been sick for 12 years. The one that no doubt felt lonely…afraid…restless. We talked about how waiting 12 years must have felt like an eternity. And then we calculated how many days occupied 12 years.

4,380. That’s not considering any give or takes the Hebrew calendar may have included. Let’s not split hairs about the actual number. Stick with me. Then, one of the ladies raised her hand and said, maybe like the sick woman, tomorrow is our 4,380^th day. You know, that thought never occurred to me until that moment. So, we talked about getting up and doing one more day. Reaching for healing and hope one more time.

Think about that. She didn’t know the day she reached for the hem of Jesus’ robe it would be her day of healing. She was desperate, though. She had suffered so much. So, she took a risk and reached into the crowded space…in faith.

4,380. What if today is your 4,379^th day? Can I encourage you to keep moving? Tomorrow might be the day of breakthrough. It might be the day you experience healing in your heart. Maybe it’s the day you take the risk to reach for forgiveness. It didn’t happen overnight for her. Every hour of every day, she must have wondered about healing. All that matters is she reached for healing on that day, and finally experienced what she’d spent all her money searching for…healing.

She stepped outside her comfort zone. She took a risk. She reached for Jesus. 4,380 days of wanting came to a sudden halt because of her faith.

Last night, I watched precious women reaching for faith. As they reached, I grew in strength to take another step, too. That’s the beauty of community, isn’t it? It’s the ripple effect. Your faith inspires mine. My faith inspires another. When we lean into community, we can handle day 3,009 or day 2.

I’m not a numbers girl, generally. I guess this is an exception!

Maybe today is your 4,380^th day. Maybe it’s not. Can I encourage you to keep taking steps toward healing and hope? Your efforts will come into clear view, one day.