Look Up. You Are Not Alone
The woman Jesus encountered in the synagogue suffered not only in her body but most assuredly in her mind and spirit as well. We are told, “She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself” (verse 11). According to J. Wilkinson, the infirmity this woman suffered from was the result of “spondylitis ankylopoetica, which produces the fusion of the spinal bones.” Her condition left her permanently bowing to the world. Charles Spurgeon’s comment on this woman provides a deeper insight into her condition. He said, “For eighteen years she had not gazed upon the sun; for eighteen years no star of night had gladdened her eye; her face was drawn downward towards the dust, and all the light of her life was dim: she walked about as if she were searching for a grave, and I do not doubt she often felt that it would have been gladness to have found one.”
Have you ever found yourself in the same position as this woman? I know I have felt bent over and crushed under the weight of the world and the troubles it brings. I have allowed my worries to so consume me that I focus only on the dirt, only on that which is to be trodden upon and crushed. I miss the sunrise. I miss the twinkling of the stars as they smile from heaven. I miss the hope because I am focused on the dirt. I could end here as a statement of fact. I could give up, as I am sure this woman often wanted to do, but I know that if I am still breathing, God is still trying to use me. I have to get out of my own way.
Years ago, I wrote a Bible study where I talked about our role as the reflection of God. For those who live in the world, we are the reflection of Christ – his ambassadors here on this earth. We are the mirrors which show the world Jesus through our actions and words. I reflected upon the use of mirrors on the floor of the Sistine Chappel so visitors could easily view the artwork on the ceiling. When I read today’s story of the women locked in an eternal bow, I remembered those mirrors. It struck me that the only way that woman could have seen the paintings would have been the use of such mirrors. In fact, the only way she could have seen the sky would have been to lay a mirror on the ground which her condition forced her to study so intently. Isn’t that just like Satan? He doesn’t want us to look up and see what God is doing. He doesn’t want us to have hope. He wants to keep us bound up, broken, and focused on the ground. However, God established a system to reach even those locked in the sadness and desperation of life. He made you and I to be mirrors.
I cannot make it through this world alone. I need the spiritual comfort which comes from walking with the Lord, but I also need the physical comfort of a friend’s hand upon my shoulder. I need the reminder that the sun is still shining and another day will come. I need to see God’s reflection in the lives of my friends. A couple of days ago, my younger son gave me a beautiful card. The card itself would have made my mama heart so happy, but then he wrote something in the corner. He wrote how glad he was to have me as his mom. He wrote how much he loved me and how much he had learned from me and that he would not trade any of it. Those words were the mirror placed on the floor of my life. I have allowed the sadness of the recent year to bend my spirit over. I have allowed disappointment, fear, and sadness to fuse my spirit into an act of mourning. Then my son slid a mirror under my view. He lifted my head so I could see all that God has been doing around me. Though I feel so very tired and alone, I’m not. Though this is one of the hardest moments of my life, there is so much good surrounding me. There are so many blessings raining down upon my life. My son reminded me of that. He changed my view.
I want to challenge all of us today. So many people are shuffling around as this woman no doubt did. The troubles of life have fused our spiritual spines into a posture of giving up and being broken, but God isn’t done with us. If we are breathing, He is still planning and working. All the struggle and pain have a purpose. They either shape us or get us where we need to be. Rejoice with me that God has not written us off. Then be the mirror which shows others the beauty of God’s love hidden from their view by the worries of this life. If we do nothing else with our life, encouraging the saints would be enough. Reflect God to the broken because only He can make them new.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
