From the Archives: Take Heart, Daughter

Today I’m sharing a post from May 2018, before I got married or had kids. I was living and working in Nashville, Tennessee, and God was growing me more in Him day by day. This story from Matthew 9 is still one of my favorites, and I believe Jesus shows us here the kind of healing and hope He still offers His people thousands of years later. I pray this content blesses you today!

I've been in a Bible study led by Kristi McClelland for the past 7 weeks on Jesus and women, in the first century and now. My mind has been blown more times than I can count. Reading the Bible in the context in which it was written is life-changing. One lesson—and one passage—has really resonated with me in particular. And when my pastor Robby Gallaty preached on the same message this Sunday, I knew I had to share with y'all.

“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wing.”

— Malachi 4:2

I've read and heard this verse many times, but I never knew the true meaning until about a month ago. I always pictured this as God offering protection and shelter under His wings like momma bird to its baby. It's a beautiful picture, but it's not the full picture.

Malachi is the final book of the Old Testament. This is one of the last things God says to the prophets before the 400-year intertestamental period.

400 years before Jesus comes on the scene, and God says "the sun of righteousness"—the Messiah—will have healing in its wing. 

To understand what this means, we have to look to the original Hebrew translation. When Jesus spoke, He made sure He could be understood by everyone. Understanding the culture helps us understand the meaning. Well, rabbis in the first century (and many today) wore a prayer shawl called a "tallit." The shawl has tassels on its ends. The corner and end of the tallit is known as "kanaph." Guess what "kanaph" is translated as? That's right: wing.

Jesus, a rabbi, wore a tallit, which had a kanaph. And God told His people 400 years before He sent His son to earth that the Messiah would have healing in its wing. But God doesn't leave the story there.

The first chapter of the New Testament (right after Malachi) is Matthew. Look at Matthew 9. A woman who has been suffering from bleeding for 12 years, isolated and cast out, approaches Jesus as He walks through town. She reaches out to His WING and is immediately healed.

“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, ‘If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.’ Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly the woman was made well.”

This woman knew her Bible. She loved the Lord, and she reached out to Jesus. When I learned the truth of this story, I cried. I cried because it's not just a Biblical story -- it's a story that still happens today. This is my story. God healed me from anxiety, an eating disorder, depression, guilt, shame. Because He is my helper, I rejoice in the shadow of His wing. (Psalm 63:7)

He saved me like He saved the bleeding woman, and He offers that grace and mercy to every single one of you. 

Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well. 

An Anchor for Our Souls

I’ve been shaken lately by the state of our country and our world. Shaken by the hatred people keep spewing at each other; by COVID-19 and the reality of our new normal; by our divisive political system; by racism, racial tension, and riots. I could go on and on. I am shaken, but I am not overwhelmed. 

There’s only one reason I can live today without total fear, anxiety, and disappointment:

Jesus. 

He is my hope, as firm and secure as anchor.

“For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself: I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply you. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner, because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13-20)

I am easily tempted to put my hope in changing, temporary things. Even as a believer, I still fail to trust God, and I still look to earthly things to satisfy me. Here’s a few that tend to make the rotation. Perhaps you can relate:

• Work

• Money

• Home

• Stability

• Comfort

• Control

• Relationships

• Marriage

• Children

• Health

• Government 

These things are fading away. This world is not our permanent home. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:16). God tells us to not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15). Instead, “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Christ is on the throne. He is unchanging, and He is always true. He keeps His promises. As the author of Hebrews writes, God wanted to show his unchangeable promise even more clearly so he guaranteed it with an oath. What does that mean?

To see the full picture here, we need to start in the Old Testament. Tim Keller’s sermon “A Covenant Relationship” has helped me understand this oath more clearly. In Genesis 15, God tells Abram that He will bless him and make his offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram believes God but wants to know how he can be sure. Remember Abram is old, likely in his 70s at this point, and his wife Sarah is barren.

So God asks Abram to arrange dead animals, cut in half, in two rows. Abram thought he was setting up what a typical oath would look like: A servant would kill the animals, divide them, and arrange them in two rows. Then the servant would walk between the pieces to swear loyalty to their master. The servant is essentially saying if they don’t keep their promise, may they be cut into pieces like those animals. 

What instead happens is that God Himself passes between the pieces. Keller explains, God is promising that He will bless Abram, and He says He will die if He doesn’t fulfill this! Furthermore, God doesn’t ask Abram to walk through the pieces. Abram doesn’t make an oath whatsoever. This is all God.

God made this oath with us. He gave us Jesus, and our hope as believers is firm and secure.

As Keller perfectly states, “Jesus Christ absolutely fulfilled the conditions of the law so that God could love you absolutely unconditionally.”

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or lost, maybe it’s time to turn off the news, delete your social media apps, and look to God’s Word. (Hello, preaching to myself here.) Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). If we want peace, we have to look beyond this planet. We have to trust in the promises of God and take encouragement from His great hope.

If you’re not a believer in Jesus or you don’t know what to think about all this, will you message me? I’m praying this crazy time leads you and many others to love God and live for Him.

And if you are a Christian, then let’s remember to lift one another up by the hope of the gospel. By the fact that God took on the curse we deserve and still guarantees us the blessing, by faith through grace. Let’s be the light this world needs.

For the Woman in the Wilderness

I have talked to a lot of you who right now are in the wilderness. You’re journeying through a really difficult time in your life, dragging a lot of baggage, a lot of dirt, a lot of mess behind you—and the end seems nowhere in sight.

My life feels pretty even-keeled right now, but I have been in your shoes before and I’ll be there again one day. Our lives are a constant ebb and flow. Whatever wilderness you’re in, this post is for you.

For the woman who is struggling to make end’s meet, who doesn’t know where her next paycheck will come from or how she’ll secure a reliable source of income, trust that there is hope.

For the woman who hates her job and longs for something different, know that you’re where you are for now with great purpose.

For the woman whose deepest desire is to be married, but she can’t seem to land a date, believe that your worth stems from something greater than your relationship status.

For the woman who tries again and again to bear children, yet each pregnancy test comes up negative, there is redemption for you.

For the woman who is chasing the next best job, the next highest title, the next largest salary, the next biggest house, you can stop your striving and find peace.

For the woman who believes she is not enough, know that He is.

Jesus is in your wilderness—He himself went through wilderness. He was tempted by Satan, and he needed to rely on His Father to get Him through it.

He actually quotes three very specific passages in Deuteronomy as he battles Satan.

"He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 8:3)

"Do not test the Lord your God as you tested Him at Massah." (Deuteronomy 6:16)

"Fear Yahweh your God, worship Him, and take your oaths in His name." (Deuteronomy 6:13)

He proclaimed His faith and spoke God’s name out loud—and the Devil left Him.

Jesus has been exactly where you are, and He gets your situation better than anyone else can. He understands pain, longing, betrayal, exhaustion, disappointment, hurt. He sees you. He is working on your behalf.

As I read through the Old Testament, I notice a theme. The Israelites turn away from God time and time again. Not only that, but they worship false gods. They stop teaching their children about Yahweh. They behave in the complete opposite way that God told them to.

God is not blind to their sin; He is a just God after all. His anger comes out, and He releases His wrath. But eventually, the Israelites cry out to God for deliverance. They ask for help. They ask for saving. They ask for a miracle.

Time and time again, God delivers.

Do not be afraid.

Do not be discouraged.

Be strong and courageous.

Stand up.

I am with you.

He is with those Israelites even when they screw things up.

My dear, He is with you, too.

The Promised Land looks like a dream. Milk and honey flow abundantly. The manna is so sweet. But the Israelites don’t get to this amazing place until they’ve spent 40 years journeying through the wilderness.

They consistently ask God to take them a different way. They’d rather be back in slavery in Egypt than deal with the difficulties of the wilderness any longer. But God has a plan and a vision. He sees the entirety of the situation, while they see just a speck.

He promised them redemption, and He doesn’t go back on His promises.

Do you believe that?

Do I believe that?

The redemption comes full circle with Jesus, who died for our sins and rose so that we might have eternal life. We’re not guaranteed a happy life, and we’re not even guaranteed tomorrow. But we can stake our lives on a greater hope and keep our heads held high.

I think lives would be transformed and our world would be a better place if we walked around knowing that truth in our core and living each day with that freedom in our hearts.

Let me put it in a slightly different manner. Remember the 2006 Rodney Atkins country song, “If You’re Going Through Hell”?

"If you're goin' through hell keep on going
Don't slow down if you're scared don't show it
You might get out before the devil even knows you're there

I've been deep down in that darkness
I've been down to my last match
Felt a hundred different demons breathin' fire down my back
And I knew that if I stumbled I'd fall right into the trap
That they were layin'

But the good news is there's angels everywhere out on the street
Holdin' out a hand to pull you back up on your feet
The one's that you've been draggin' for so long
You're on your knees might as well be prayin'
Guess what I'm sayin'..."

He goes on to sing, “face that fire, walk right through it.”

The song might sound cheesy (okay, it totally is), but that’s precisely what we get to do with Jesus! He gives us the strength to walk through fires. He takes us through wilderness before we can reach the Promised Land. We won’t necessarily find that Promised Land here on earth, but we can bank on the fact that it will be the most glorious kingdom we’ve ever set foot in when we do get there.

“Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

— Joshua 1:9

We hear this verse all the time. You’ve probably seen it written on artwork, journals, and coffee mugs. Take a second to recognize the full depth of it: The Lord is speaking directly to Joshua after Moses’ death. It’s now Joshua’s job to prepare the Israelites to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. God reminds Joshua He has been with them the entire 40 years in the wilderness, and He will continue to do so.

God doesn’t forget His promises. His Word is true! We need to remember that in our own lives right here today. We have to encourage one another in that. When we’re praying to Him, reading His Word, and listening to His call for our lives, He’s right there beside us. His Spirit dwells within us. We have nothing to fear.

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If you want to talk more about Jesus Christ and faith and what-the-heck-is-all-this-stuff, shoot me a message. I love meeting new people, whether virtually or in person, and gabbing about life. 

And if you'd like to know more of my story, you can read my testimony here.

Truly, He makes beautiful things.