I'd
like to share a story with you that hit me hard. I was sitting in a meeting early last week as
someone talked about this story in Scripture. It hit me like a ton of bricks as Jesus
reminded a person most thought was insignificant that she is significant to
God.
This
was a normal day or at least as normal as they came when Jesus was around.
Those who were in the synagogue were either loyal followers of God and faithful
or they were curious about Jesus.
One Sabbath day as Jesus was
teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a woman who had been crippled by an
evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to
stand up straight. 12 When Jesus
saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your
sickness!” 13 Then he touched her,
and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! 14 But the leader in charge of the
synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There
are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those
days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”. 15 But the Lord replied, “You
hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or
your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? 16 This dear woman, a daughter of
Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right
that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”
17 This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the
wonderful things he did.
This
was a normal day or at least as normal as they came when Jesus was around.
Those who were in the synagogue were either loyal followers of God and faithful
or they were curious about Jesus.
I
tend to believe that this special lady was simply going about her normal
routine. It was time to go to worship and to hear the Scriptures read. Yet in
the middle of that average day, this lady caught Jesus' attention. She might
have been sitting in the back just listening in and taking in all that was
going on.
But
this was a day that God chose to heal her. For 18 long years she had been in
pain and struggling. Her sickness wasn't uncommon. There are people all around
with special needs, and Jesus spoke up and stepped up to heal this precious
lady. He cared about her need and desired to end her pain.
Her
healing led to her praising God. Her healing also led to the religious people
getting big time upset that Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. Look back at
the passage for the dialogue Jesus had. I'd not want to be shamed in this way
for complaining about something that seemed wrong when God did something so
right. Her life would never be the same.
This
lady thought she was insignificant. The
people who knew her and those who were around her thought she was
insignificant, but Jesus had something else to say to her.
As
Jesus spoke to the religious leaders about their hypocrisy, Jesus pointed to
this lady who had just been completely healed and referred to her as “a
daughter of Abraham”. She wasn’t called
“the lady who had been healed.” She
wasn’t just “that lady over there”. She
was significance. She was a child of
Abraham, an important part of the family, and she was special to Jesus.
That
same thing is true for you. Others may
write you off or turn their back to you, but God doesn’t do that at all. God knows your name, nothing can change your
being His child, and the Bible says that His thoughts about us are as numerous
as the sands of the sea. That’s a lot of
thinking.
May
God teach us that we are significant and important to Him. That is the truth. Believe it!
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