A woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for
over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus
saw her, He called out to her, "Woman, you are free of your disability."
But the leader of the synagogue responded by telling the crowd, "There are
six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed,
and not on the Sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "Hypocrites!"
"This woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for 18 years
shouldn't she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?" Selections from Luke 13
Eighteen years. Not just crippled, but imprisoned in a
contorted position by a spirit - some supernatural force doing the devil's
bidding - now set free by the healing power of Jesus Christ. And the Pharisees
don't like it one bit. Well, that's their problem.
We don't know if the synagogue was her customary place to be
on the Sabbath. It might have been. Or perhaps she knew this Jesus fellow was
going to be there that week, the one she'd heard could send the demons packing,
could set the crippled free. Whatever the case, she was there; in church and
seeking help. Not curled up in a ball at
home, resigned to her bed of pain.
Somehow, she had limped her way to town that day, caught his attention,
and found her healing. He knows faith
when he sees it.
Sometimes when I was a kid, my mother or father would say, “Shut
your eyes and hold out your hand.” I trusted them, so whatever they
were going to give me, I was ready to take.
This is the way it should be in our trust of our heavenly
Father. Faith is the willingness to
receive whatever He wants to give, or the willingness not to have what He does
not want to give. From the greatest of
all gifts (salvation in Christ) to the material blessings of any ordinary day
(hot water, a pair of legs that work, a cup of coffee, a job to do and the
strength to do it), every good gift comes down from the Father of Lights. Every one of them is to be received gladly
and with thanks. Sometimes we want things we were not meant to have. Because He loves us, the Father says no.
Faith is willing not
to have what God is not willing to give.
Furthermore, faith does not insist on an explanation. It is enough to know His promise that He will
give what is good. He knows so much more
about that than we do.
You may have suffered long. But never stop going to God for
help to hope and pray for healing, yes, but to just be happy that He knows…and
cares…and will see you through.
Scripture to Claim:
Every good thing given and every perfect
gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is
no variation or shifting shadow. James
1:17
Submitted by Deacon
Leonard Peters
