Okay, so I have a confession to make. I was a…a belieber. Yes, I spelled that correctly. I was once a belieber: a fan of Justin Bieber. To say I was a belieber is actually an understatement. I knew every song, owned multiple albums, posters, clothing items, etc. I recorded every show Justin Bieber guest starred on. I asked for tickets to his tour and cried during every song…in the nosebleeds – but he still knew I was there. I was sure of it. I was slightly obsessed.

As embarrassing as it sounds, I honestly thought that Justin and I were meant to be together. I would tell my mom, “If I could just meet him, I know we will fall in love and end up together…If I could just meet him.” She, like any mother would do, replied with the comforting, “I’m sure he would love you if you met.”

Well, here I am, almost five years later and Justin Bieber does not know I exist. But I am proud to admit I could care less if I ever meet Justin Bieber. But at the age of 15, I thought the Biebs was the bees knees and that he would make me feel accepted. I looked for approval in his music. I also looked for approval in other things—grades, competition dance, varsity cheerleading, boys, friends, honors chorus, etc. I looked to these things to make me feel “good enough” or “okay.” I wanted these things to give me approval.

This reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the New Testament.

Mark 5:24-34 reads:

A large crowd followed and pressed around him.25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 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.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.” 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.

As a belieber, I related to this bleeding woman. It says in verse 26, “She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had.” She traveled from doctor to doctor looking for someone to tell her what was wrong and eventually tell her she was going to be okay. She wanted someone to heal her and then tell her she was okay. I am sure after bleeding for 12 years, not many people wanted to hang around her. I am sure her friends were limited. She just wanted someone to tell her she was going to be “okay.”

After she spent all she had, she heard about Jesus. She probably thought this Jesus guy was her last chance. She had a similar thought to the thought I had -- if she could just meet him…

Luckily, this bleeding woman put her hope in the one true healer: Jesus Christ. Because of her faith, in reaching out to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she was healed. And the cool thing: Jesus knew what had happened without even looking. He knew the power had left him. When he asked, the woman admitted to what had happened, shocking even the disciples. She fell to her knees.

Now comes my favorite part: Jesus looks at the bleeding woman and says, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Did you catch that? He calls her “daughter." Daughter. Not woman. Not the bleeding woman -- what she had been known as for 12 years. But Jesus addresses her as daughter. How special? The term daughter is such an intimate way to address someone. This shows a relationship. Not only is this woman healed, but Jesus calls her daughter.

Jesus not only healed this bleeding woman, but he also gave her what we all look for at some point in our lifetime: acceptance, approval, that feeling that you’re “okay” or “good enough." Jesus looks at her and calls her by one of the most intimate names, reassuring her that she is a daughter of the one true King. She is “good enough." She is “okay."

Justin Bieber, my grades, boyfriends, dance, cheering, chorus, these were my “doctors." These were the things in which I was looking for acceptance. These are the “doctors” in which I was looking for healing. Finally, like the bleeding woman, I reached out and encountered Jesus, and he looked at me and called me daughter. He told me, and tells me daily, “You are okay. You, my daughter, are good enough.” He looks at me and says, “Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Who are your “doctors?" Have you reached out to Jesus? Because he wants to call you daughter or son and free you from your suffering.