Making Straight That Which Has Been Bent

Making Straight That Which Has Been Bent

One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, 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. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! Luke 13:10-13

The woman described in today’s verses likely had kyphosis of the spine. In Luke’s day, that condition was impossible to cure. Even today, the treatment would be long and laborious for someone who had been stricken for eighteen years. It would require years of orthopedic surgeries and physical therapy working in tandem.

In reading Luke’s account of this woman, I realize how terribly she must have suffered. She likely endured debilitating pain as well as breathing and digestive difficulties. Even the act of retrieving water for her basic daily needs would have been a tremendous struggle. The fact that she was still up and about, attending synagogue after eighteen years of suffering from this condition, was a testament to her persistence in the battle for daily survival.

When Jesus saw this woman in such suffering, he had to have felt the same compassion toward her that he exhibited toward so many others who were shunned, outcast, and hurting.

So he healed her.

For the first time in eighteen years, the woman stood up straight, and the first person she saw was Jesus, her healer. Imagine how her eyes must have sparkled and her face glowed as she could finally see the faces of other people rather than always looking at their sandals. When she strolled into the market the next day, few would have recognized her.

Jesus not only has power over our physical health, but he can also straighten out our bent and crooked lives—our marriages, our finances, our jobs. If we’re downcast because of guilt, shame, or depression, he can give us a new outlook on life. Jesus straightens the bent and helps us lift our eyes to the heavens, as we once again walk with confidence, knowing that he has not only healed us, but he has also forgiven all our sins.

TODAY’S RX

Give God the bent things in your life. He wants to heal your pain and your shame and allow you to walk upright.

Lord, please remove the sin and shame that weighs me down and keeps me from looking up to you. I long to stand straight, to be free, and to walk with confidence and joy.