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Pushy Faith - Encouragement Café - April 17, 2018

Pushy Faith
By Luann Prater

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. Luke 8:48 NIV

Does it seem like when the helium in your life begins to rise, people show up with pins to pop your enthusiasm? I get it.

You see the vision.  You feel God press on your heart. Your quiet time reassures that now is the time. You rise up in obedience to take the next step, then BLAM! Negative Nancy says you can never do it. Irritating Ina reminds you it’s impossible. Dreary Dan detours your excitement by deciding now is not the time.

In those moment, it’s easy to get pulled down and discouraged. There’s a story in the Bible that may shine some light on how we can overcome these feelings of frustration.

In Luke chapter 8, we find a woman who was frustrated. She had lost all hope, tried everything to find a cure but was still suffering.  People avoided her unless they were trying to sell her another ‘remedy’ for her illness.

Then she heard about Jesus. The stories of the miracles were over the top amazing and even though she was weak and tired from suffering for twelve years, she knew THIS might be the day things could change.

When people saw Jesus coming near the shore in the boat they rushed in like frenzied shoppers on Black Friday. Everyone wanted an up close look at this guy who was the talk of the town.

Jairus fell on his knees begging for his daughter’s life. I’m sure others were wanting an audience with Jesus, the superstar, as well.

This woman was familiar with loneliness, people had shunned her for over a decade.  They wanted her to sit on the sidelines and deal with her disease in silence. 

She certainly wouldn’t have been encouraged to go to the Master because she may accidentally brush up against them, then they’d be considered unclean.  It was too risky!

But today, this chic had ‘pushy faith’. She was in the midst of the Greek word, sumpnigo, a crushing crowd. All those shoppers trying to get to the prize but she refused to back away or back down. Instead she pushed in.

She wasn’t looking for a face-to-face encounter, because her faith in this moment was so incredibly strong she knew that just a touch would make all the difference. So she squeezed and pushed her way in and grasped the hem of his garment and just like that, the healing rushed in. 

She felt it! She knew it! And so did Jesus. He stopped everything and focused on the power that just left him.

Then he said the words she had longed to hear her entire life, ‘Daughter’.

No matter how many friends, family or acquaintances had tried to pop her balloons that day, telling her not to have pushy faith, she knew that THIS was her moment.

When balloon poppers are surrounding us, let’s get pushy faith and press into the Master. 

Dear Jesus, Thanks for calling us daughter. In the moments when we need reassurance in our life, You remind us who we are and whose we are.  Teach us to have pushy faith that never settles for anything but Your touch.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2018 by Luann Prater.  All rights reserved.


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