So loved…?

Isn’t it uncomfortable when you read or hear a story that you can relate to a little too closely? One that mirrors your life and trials? One you wish weren’t true? One you hope and pray that no one ever knows about? I know I find it very disconcerting and unsettling! This was never truer than when I was a new believer.

The Bible is rife with ‘bad’ people that I could relate to…so many “unspeakables”, so many illustrations of how not to be. It was easy for me to become discouraged and relive all my shame when I read or heard them. I mean, what did that say about me? Who was I? How could I believe what God says about me now that I’m a new creation? (2 Corinthians 5:17) That the old has gone and the new has come? These stories resounded in my head …and messed with my thinking!

I was the woman at the well. Some say she was a prostitute, I disagree. Jesus says that she’d “had 5 husbands and the man she was with was not her husband.” (John 4:18) Back then a man could divorce a woman for no reason at all. So 5x she’d been abandoned. Not good enough to love. Ever been there? I have. While not divorced per se, I have been left. Abandoned. Deemed “not good enough” by guys and people I loved. As a result, I was willing to do things for the love I desperately needed—even living with someone who was not my husband! She was alone, ashamed, unwelcome and unwanted. Yep. I could relate.

I was the crippled woman in the synagogue. Bent over and burdened under the crushing weight of life. Going each week to church with no sign of help anywhere. Reaching out, bringing myself to the one place that I thought hope could be found. Only to be overlooked. Rejected. Not worthy.

I was the leper. Outcast from society. Always on the perimeter. Wanting to be a part of the group but excluded. Unable to heal myself of whatever it was that kept me separate– even in a crowd.

I was the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Wanting to be healed but expecting someone to help me—and when they didn’t, deciding that until they did, I would remain in my crippled state. Believing in anything or anyone who said they could help, only to be let down again.

These are but a few. The list goes on and on. It can be very disheartening reading and that is how I found it to be.

Reminders of my sin and shame.

But God.

One day it hit me. God showed me something wonderful about how HE loved each of them—where.they.were. So much so, that He sent His only Son.

Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria. In fact, most Jews did not since they were sworn enemies. But Jesus did. Why? “He had to…” (John 4:4) He had an appointment at a well with a sinful, Samaritan woman that day. HE came after her! He came to her in the scorched, dry heat of her life to offer her the living water that only HE can provide…the only water that would forever slake her thirst for love. He knew everything about her but did not condemn her. (John 3:17) He came to refresh, restore and renew her life.

To the crippled woman at the synagogue, He brought freedom. He called her, touched her, and set her free. (Luke 13:12-13) Free from the weight of the burden she had been carrying alone. Free from everything that had her bent over and unable to stand up straight. Free to stand, praise and worship God unfettered and healed- in spite of those who didn’t think she was worth it.

The leper. The outcast. The untouchable one. Jesus reached out and touched him. What? Anything a leper touched became unclean. (Leviticus 13:45-46) Damaged goods. Yet Jesus reached out and touched him. And made him whole. Why? Because he chose to! (Matthew 8:3) He restored all that was lost to him as an unclean, untouchable, outcast. He gave him life! The abundant life He came to give us all.

The pool at Bethesda was in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate (John 5:2). It was north of the temple and actually outside the city walls. It was in this distant place that Jesus sought out the crippled man, a man who placed his hope in someone else believing that some “thing” could heal him—to ask him a simple question. “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6) Only to have him complain about why he hasn’t been healed despite his desire to be healed. What great mercy Jesus shows!!! He didn’t chide him for his wrong belief and passivity, instead He heals him. Instantly. Mercifully. He healed him so completely that there was no need for the remnants of his past to be left lying around (“Take up your mat and walk!” John 5:8) That life was over. It was time for him to walk into the new life Jesus had given him.

Do you see it?

Jesus went after them all. He sought them out. He came to save the sick and the lost. (Luke 19:10) The ones who knew their shame – He washed clean. The untouchables –  He touched and restored. The crippled, bent and broken – He straightened and healed. Those with misplaced belief – He mercifully came and showed that it is only He that can heal a life. Even those that have been way-laid for many, many years.

“For God so loved the world that He sent his only Son… “ – John 3:16

He sent Jesus to me. Not to condemn me, but to save me and make me new. For His own sake He remembers my sins no more (Isaiah 43:25) – so who am I to focus on them? Just like the wayward, waylaid, wanderers in the Bible. The old is gone the new has come. I am not who I was.

I don’t look at those stories anymore and see the bad. I see the healed and whole. The new and redeemed. The ones with a fresh start to a life full of promise. THAT is what I focus on now…so I guess in a way, I still am each of these people and look at the story they had to tell! I want my life to tell His story too. Do you?

He sent Jesus for you.

He SO LOVES you.

No matter where you are or what you’ve done—you’re never out of reach of Jesus’ healing touch.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”- John 3:16-17

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”- Matthew 11:2-30

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”- Revelation 3:20

About the Author: Cate Ange

Cate is a Huntsville native with a passion for Jesus and a love of teaching and reaching others for Him any way she can. Cate has been called a “gatherer of women from all over the city”. She is active with the 29:11 Story, and is involved with Huntsville Night Life an outreach of For Life Ministries. In addition, she serves at Willowbrook Baptist Church in several areas. Cate works part-time for Hospice Family Care as a clinical marketing liaison, which merges her love of teaching and relationship building with her zeal for helping others. She and her husband, Jay, have two lively teens– life at their house is never dull!

 

Tags: Cate Ange, Huntsville, Our City On A Hill, Soul Food