Do you ever play the "what if" game?

I'm drawn this morning to the story of the woman "with the issue of blood." Mostly, though, I'm interested in how that story ends. Jesus, having noticed power leaving him (which is another post some other time), asks, "who touched me." The woman, knowing it was her and already sure that she had been healed steps forward and tells him the whole story. Jesus responds, "Your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease."

I can't help but let my imagination run a little bit though, and wonder, what if the woman had not stepped forward? I talk a lot about how living for the kingdom is a response to the gift of love already given to us by God, so I ponder, what if her response had been different? What if she had heard Jesus' question, been afraid, and turned heel to run far far away? What if she just stood there, awkwardly (like Tanner the wierd foot guy on the bachelorette) while Jesus stood there, silent, waiting for someone to say something?

Would then her faith have made her well, or would the issue of blood have immediately returned? No answers here, just encouragement that sometimes it is fun to look at a story from as many of the eleventy-billon sides as you can.

What if?