God Sees And Cares For You

God Sees, God Cares: A Message of Hope from Luke 13:10-13

I’m Rev Jay Stuart Glover, welcome to Faith Talk.

Today, we reflect on a message of hope  from the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus sees, calls, heals, and restores a woman who had been suffering for 18 years. This story reveals God’s compassionate nature and serves as a reminder that He sees us today, in our struggles, cares deeply, and is always ready gift us with spiritual healing and freedom.

Text: Luke 13:10-13

10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Picture the scene: It’s the Sabbath, and Jesus is teaching in a synagogue. Among the crowd is a woman, crippled, bent over and unable to look up. She’s spent years of her life walking around with her head down,  likely feeling invisible and hopeless. Her story is relatable; many of us carry invisible burdens.  Shame, financial stress, anxiety, physical pain. Each of  these  can weigh us down, making us feel “bent over” in life. Despite her suffering, she still came to the synagogue—a testament to her faith,   But even in the synagogue amongst people of faith, she was overlooked, she was practically invisible, she probably sat in the back. Nobody paid much attention to her, nobody could help her.  In her condition,  she didn’t have hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Why do I love this story so much? I love this story of because, when we look at it closely, we get a clear picture of who GOD is, how much He loves us and what He desires for us today.

1. Jesus  Saw Her 

   Jesus noticed her. He saw her when others didn’t, acknowledging her silent suffering. This story reminds us that   Just like he saw this woman, he sees you and I this morning.  He sees all that we struggle with, all that we wrestle with. He sees all of our circumstance, he sees our discomforts, physically, psychologically and  economically, and spiritually.,

2. Jesus  Called Her

   Jesus didn’t wait for her to come to Him. He called her forward, inviting her to step into His presence.

He  called her out of the crowd, out of her seat, out of her despair, out of her isolation, out of her loneliness. And guess what, while she was still physically bent over, her heart was lifted, with a hopeful expectation, she lifted her eyes looking only at Jesus, gazing upon the Messiah, she courageously, stepped forward in answer to the invitation of Jesus. 

In the same way , God is calling us today. Inviting  us to come forward into His presence, in prayer, with all of our frailties,  all of our faults all of our concerns, all of that troubles us. 

From this story we see that Jesus saw her, he called her and then 

3. Jesus Spoke to Her 

   Jesus declared her freedom before anything had visibly changed: “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 

Jesus’ words spoken into her life were performative. His word makes things happen. His words changed her existence, reframed her reality and prospered her life in an instant. Whatever it was that caused her pain and suffering, and  caused her to walk with her head down for 18 years was commanded to cease and desist. She was liberated, she was set free.

This is the same God who speaks life and hope into our situations, shifting our reality through His promises.

4. Jesus Touched Her.

   Finally, Jesus reached out and touched her, and she was healed instantly. That touch represented His love for her, His acceptance, of Her and His solidarity with her. When we open ourselves to God’s touch, we can receive healing in ways we never imagined.

The woman’s response was spontaneous praise. She stood up straight for the first time in years and praised God! Her joy is a reminder that when we experience God’s love and healing, it moves us to gratitude and worship.

As we heard about this woman being made whole by Jesus, she becomes a symbol of hope, reminding us that the risen Jesus responds to our suffering in the same compassionate way. Her story inspires us to have faith in the restorative  power of Christ that comes to us in graceful and often unexpected ways. Through this gospel story our faith is increased, our hearts and minds are pointed to Gods providential care and our hope is built up. Church, there are better days ahead. God is calling us not only to be delivered from what binds us, to rise above circumstance that challenges us, He is calling us  to be the church. He is inviting us to be a reflection of his love. To Care for the underserved  in our communities. To be a voice for the voiceless, help to the marginalized,  a welcome place for outcast, to provide  relief for the poor, the sick, the alien and the orphan. God is still on the throne and He is inviting us to partner with Him, so that His is done on earth. 

I’m Rev Jay Stuart Glover, you are listening to Faith Talk. 

Thank you for joining our global listeners today. I pray this story encourages you, knowing that God sees you, cares for you,  and He is the source of our freedom. I encourage you to share these episodes with family and friends. The episodes are available on Apple, Amazon, Spotify and You Tube. Visit the website at www.revjaystuartglover.com and leave your comments. 

God bless you. 

Amen.