We’ve all been there. At one moment, you’re on fire for the Lord, reading your Bible daily, enjoying the personal fellowship and friendship with God, feeling His presence close to you, and then, at another moment… crickets. You feel like you’re so far away from God; nothing is going right in your life, and you just feel stuck. When we stop growing in our faith, we experience this feeling of being stuck, and it’s never a fun time. The devil likes to use this opportunity to parade before us every sinful act or thought we’ve ever done or had as a reason for this state of stagnation. He follows it up with lies about this being our permanent state, and makes us feel “there’s no going back to God from here.”
It’s all nonsense, and you shouldn’t listen to Him. There’s a reason He’s called the father of lies; it’s the only real power he has. While this may be true, there are things that we do to come into agreement with his lies and keep ourselves stuck. We can choose to stay stuck or choose to address these issues and find freedom in the Lord. As we look into the bible in Luke 13:10-17, we read about the woman who was bent for 18 years.
Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. (Luke 13:10-13)
One of the poignant things that we see here in the introductory verses is that the woman never went up to Jesus! It was Jesus who called her forward. For us to understand this clearly, we must know the culture of the day and how people gathered in the synagogue. Traditionally the men sat in front and women at the back. We know when Jesus was present, crowds would swell inside and outside the synagogue. It was not easy for Jesus to notice her… almost impossible as she was also bent, meaning she was not in a normal sitting position. Yet, Jesus saw her! We can take comfort and encouragement from this, that Jesus sees us wherever we are, in whatever situation we are in.
We know she was bent over for 18 years… that means 18 years x 52 Sundays = 936 Sundays! She had become so accustomed to her situation that what was abnormal seemed normal to her. She was unaware of her impediment. Today, there is a medical term for this condition and it is termed as Camptocormia (bent spine syndrome). It is an abnormality of the bones and nerves that causes a person to be severely bent that the chest reaches the knees.
The fact that she had endured this for 18 years, shows that it was not a disability from birth, but a spirit had bound her and Jesus was able to set her free. Being stuck in this position for 18 years meant she was not able to see many things other than the ground of the feet of people. In verse 16, Jesus gets to the root of the problem.
So ought this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
This was a case of demonic possession. The amazing fact is that for 18 years, the leaders in the synagogue had no clue whatsoever about this! Jesus set her free in that instant! She was spiritually stuck for 18 years because she thought that was going to be her forever story…she was destined to live this way, and there was no way out. She accepted it as her fate.
What are some of the signs of a person who is spiritually stuck? That individual will have a fixed pattern/routine of doing things, lack of hope, no ability to look ahead with excitement, no growth in ideas, gets easily discouraged and faced with an inability to reach their full potential.
Fear is often close company to a person who is spiritually stuck. It keeps them from moving forward and more importantly shifts their focus away from God. Failure follows close behind. This is where a person who has yet to see success, becomes so fixated on what has not been achieved that they are not able to see past it. How many of us fall into this trap many a time. Edmund Burke, a British political thinker said, “No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear”.
There is a worship song entitled Breakthrough Coming sung by Hope Darst that I’ve been listening to lately… one of the lines say “But When Jesus Shows Up On The Scene You Know Somethings About To Change”. How true this is! When we walk with Jesus, there are certain things that we can do as scripture advises us to become unstuck.
The first is to check the people around you. Proverbs 13:20 reads “Walk With The Wise And Become Wise, For A Companion Of Fools Suffers Harm”. People can either inspire you or cause you to perspire (drained out). So choose wisely, who you surround yourselves with.
The second is to walk into new beginnings. Isaiah 43:19 says “See I Am Doing A New Thing! Now It Springs Up; Do You Not Perceive It?”. Be open to stepping into the new because life gets uninteresting when you stay within the limits of what you already know. With Jesus, we can walk forward confidently even though we may not know what the future holds. It suffices to know that God is already there waiting.
Finally, recount your blessings in the past. Psalm 126:3 reminds us that “The Lord Has Done Great Things For Us And We Are Filled With Joy”. Count the many blessings and all that God has done and believe the same God will work in the future. Many a time we forget past blessings that show the faithfulness of God.
Let us continue to walk into 2024 boldly with Jesus and not be stuck in the past.
About the Ryans: Ps. Justin Ryan & his wife Ps. Jacquie are the founders of One Voice Ministries, established in 2008. It is a missions and training ministry focused on reaching the 10/40 Window. To date they have ministered in 11 nations including Malaysia, teaching and training pastors and leaders as well as evangelising many of the unreached peoples groups. Here in Malaysia, One Voice has an established work with the Orang Asli.
In 2013, the Lord led them to establish Issachar Academy where they provide a Certificate, Diploma, Associate Degree, Bachelors and Masters in Missions and Practical Ministry. Through the academy, the Ryans also help Christians recognise and move in their seasons with God.For more details please visit them at www.onevm.net
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