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Woman Thou Art Loosed!!...
Posted : 21 Sep, 2011 09:56 PM
Woman Thou Art Loosed!!...
Infirm Woman - It is important to remember that for every person, there will be a problem. Even more importantly, for every problem, our God has a prescription! "And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." {Luke 13:11-12}
The Holy Spirit periodically lets us catch a glimpse of the personal testimony of one of the patients of the Divine Physician Himself. This woman’s dilemma is her own, but perhaps you will find some point of relativity between her case history and your own. She could be like someone you know or have known; she could even be like you.
There are three major characters in this story. They are the person, the problem, and the prescription. It is important to remember that for every person, there will be a problem. But even more importantly, for every problem, our God has a prescription!
Jesus' opening statement to the problem in this woman's life is not a recommendation for counseling—it is a challenging command! Often much more is involved in maintaining deliverance than just discussing past trauma. Jesus did not counsel what should have been commanded. I am not, however, against seeking the counsel of godly men. On the contrary, the Scriptures say: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." {Psalm 1:1}
"Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety." {Proverbs 11:14}
What I want to make clear is that after you have analyzed the condition, after you have understood its origin, it will still take the authority of God's Word to put the past under your feet! This woman was suffering as a result of something that attacked her eighteen years earlier. I wonder if you can relate to the long-range aftereffects of past pain? This kind of trauma is as fresh to the victim today as it was the day it occurred. Although the problem may be rooted in the past, the prescription is a present word from God! The Word is the same yesterday, today and forevermore {Hebrews 13:8}. That is to say, the Word you are hearing today is able to heal your yesterday!
A PERSONAL WAR - When Jesus said, "Woman, thou art loosed," He did not call her by name. He wasn’t speaking to her just as a person. He spoke to her femininity. He spoke to the song in her. He spoke to the lace in her. Like a crumbling rose, Jesus spoke to what she could, and would have been. I believe the Lord spoke to the twinkle that existed in her eye when she was a child; to the girlish glow that makeup can never seem to recapture. He spoke to her God-given uniqueness. He spoke to her gender.
Her problem didn't begin suddenly. It had existed in her life for eighteen years. We are looking at a woman who had a personal war going on inside her. These struggles must have tainted many other areas of her life. The infirmity that attached to her life was physical.
However, many women also wrestle with infirmities in emotional traumas. These infirmities can be just as challenging as a physical affliction. An emotional handicap can create dependency on many different levels. Relationships can become crutches. The infirm woman can place such weight on people that it strains a healthy relationship. And many times such emotional handicaps will spawn a series of unhealthy relationships.
"For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly." {John 4:18}
Healing cannot come to a desperate person rummaging through other people's lives. One of the first things that a hurting person needs to do is break the habit of using other people as a narcotic to numb the dull aching of an inner void. The more you medicate the symptoms, the less chance you have of allowing God to heal you.
CLINGING OR LOVING? - Another destructive tendency that can exist with any abuse is the continual increasing of dosage. So avoid addictive, obsessive relationships. If you are becoming increasingly dependent upon anything other than God to create a sense of wholeness in your life, you are abusing your relationships. Clinging to people is far different from loving them. It is not so much a statement of your love for them as it is a crying out of your need for them. Like lust, it is intensely selfish. It is taking and not giving.
Love is giving. God is love. God proved His love not by His need of us, but by His giving to us.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." {John 3:16}
The Scriptures plainly show that this infirm woman had tried to lift herself. People who stood on the outside could easily criticize and assume that the infirm woman lacked effort and fortitude. But that is not always the case. Some situations in which we find ourselves defy willpower. We feel unable to change. The Scriptures say this woman "could in no wise lift up herself." This implies she had employed various means of self-ministry.
SPIRITUAL AILMENTS - Isn't it amazing how the same people who lift up countless others, often cannot lift themselves? This type of person may be a tower of faith and prayer for others, but impotent when it comes to their own limitations. This type of person may be the one others rely upon. Sometimes we esteem others more important than ourselves and we always become the martyr. It is wonderful to be self-sacrificing, but watch out for self-disdain! If we don’t apply some of the medicine that we use on others to strengthen ourselves, our patients will be healed and we will be dying.
"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord."
{Psalm 118:17}
Many things can engender disappointment and depression. In this woman’s case, a spirit of infirmity had gripped her life. A spirit can manifest itself in many forms. For some it may be low self-esteem caused by child abuse, rape, wife abuse or divorce. I realize that these are natural problems, but they are rooted in spiritual ailments.
One of the many damaging things that can affect us today is divorce, particularly among women, who often look forward to a happy relationship. Little girls grow up playing with Barbie and Ken dolls, dressing doll babies and playing house. Young girls lie in bed reading romance novels, while little boys play ball and ride bicycles in the park. Whenever a woman is indoctrinated to think success is romance, then experiences the trauma of a failed relationship, she comes to a painful awakening.
PUTTING PERSPECTIVE ON THE PAST - Divorce is not merely separating; it is the tearing apart of what was once joined together. Whenever something is torn, it does not heal easily. But Jesus can heal a broken or torn heart!
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." {Luke 4:18}
Approximately five out of ten marriages end in divorce. Those broken homes in which it occurs leave a trail of broken dreams, people and children. Only the Master can heal these victims in the times in which we live. Only He can treat the long-term effects of this tragedy.
One of the great healing balms of the Holy Spirit is forgiveness. To forgive is to break the link between you and your past. Sadly, though, many times the person hardest to forgive is the one in the mirror. Although many rage loudly about others, they secretly blame themselves for a failed relationship. But regardless of who they may be holding responsible, there is no healing in blame!
When you begin to realize that your past does not necessarily dictate the outcome of your future, you can finally release the hurt. It is impossible to inhale new air until you exhale the old.
I pray that as you continue reading, God will give the grace of releasing where you have been, so you can receive what God has for you now. Exhale, then inhale; there is more for you.
LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME.... {Matthew 19:14}
Perhaps one of the more serious indictments against our civilization is our flagrant disregard for the welfare of our children. Child abuse, regardless of whether it is physical, sexual or emotional, is a terrible issue for an innocent mind to wrestle with. It is horrifying to think that little children who survive the peril of the streets, the public schools, and the aggravated society in which we live, come home to be abused in what should be a haven.
Recent statistics suggest that three in five young girls in this country have been or will be sexually assaulted. If that many are reported, I shudder to think of how many are never reported and are covered with a shroud of secrecy.
THE ABUSED ARE IN OUR MIDST - If by chance you are a pastor, please realize that these figures are actually faces in your choir, committees, etc. They reflect a growing amount of our congregational needs. Although this book focuses on women, many men also have been abused as children. And I fear that God will judge us for our blatant disregard of this need in our messages, ministries and prayers. I would even suggest that our silence contributes to the shame and secrecy that Satan attaches to these victimized persons.
So whenever I think on these issues, I am reminded of what my mother used to say. I was forever coming home with a scratch or cut from schoolyard play. When I did, my mother would take the band-aid off, clean the wound and say, "Things that are covered don’t heal well." And mother was right. Things that are covered do not heal well.
Perhaps Jesus was thinking on this order when He called the infirm woman to come forward. It takes a lot of courage even in church today to receive ministry in sensitive areas. But the Lord is the kind of physician who can pour on the healing oil. So uncover your wounds in His presence and allow Him to gently heal your injuries. One woman even found healing in the hem of His garment {Mark 5:25-29}. There is a balm in Gilead! {Jeremiah 8:22.}
THE DEATH OF TRUST - However, even when a victim survives, there is still a casualty. It is the death of trust. Surely you realize that little girls tend to be trusting and unsuspicious. But when those who should nurture and protect them violate that trust through illicit behavior, multiple scars result. It is like programming a computer with false information; you can get out of it only what has been programmed into it.
When a man tells a little girl that his perverted acts are normal, she has no reason not to believe that what she is being taught is true. She is devoted to him and allows him to fondle her and further misappropriate his actions toward her. Usually the abuser is someone very close, with access to the child at vulnerable times. But fear is also a factor. Many children lay down with the cold taste of fear in their mouths. They believe the abuser could and would kill them for divulging his liberties against them. And some, as the victims of rape, feel physically powerless to wrestle with the assailant.
What kind of emotions might this kind of conduct bring out in the later life of this person? I am glad you asked. It would be easy for this kind of little girl to grow into a young lady who has difficulty trusting anyone! Maybe she will learn to deal with the pain inside by getting attention in illicit ways. Drug rehabilitation centers and prisons are full of adults who were abused children needing attention.
Excerpts from the book "Woman Thou Art Loosed" by Bishop TD Jakes
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