People with a past (2)
2022-03-15Luke 13:12 NKJV
We don’t know how long it took the woman to get to the front of the church when Jesus called her. People who are hurting can’t always move as quickly as others. There are two important lessons for us in her story.
1) Sometimes we won’t grow and mature as fast as others because we’ve been struggling with a problem for a long time. Even though something seems easy for others, it can be very difficult for us. But the good news is that Jesus will wait for us, and He’ll work with us until we overcome the problem that’s holding us back.
2) Our testimonies of God’s love and power will come out of the tests we’ve been through. And no matter what we’ve been through, today Jesus is calling to us, saying, ‘I love you, and you can come to Me.’ Regardless of what we’ve done or not done, whatever we’ve suffered, He’s calling us to Him.
We might think we have the world’s worst secret, and that nobody’s got is as wrong or failed as hard as we have. But God already knows all about it, and it still doesn’t change His promise to us. He’s still saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you…I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt’ (Jeremiah 31:3-4 NKJV). Like a master sculptor creating something beautiful out of a rough piece of rock, God can turn our mess into a message of hope for others.
The reason Satan attacks us is because we have something valuable to contribute. This woman’s story ends with these words: ‘The multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him’ (Luke 13:17 NKJV). God’s plan is for people to look at our lives and say, ‘Something has happened to you. Something’s different. You’re not the same person anymore!’ The difference is Jesus.