CoffeeBreak With The Word: Lean in

Monday, September 24, 2012

Lean in

Lean in!

The woman pushed her way through the crowd, though her illness left her weak, often exhausted. After years of trying one doctor after another, she had lost hope, until someone told her about Someone who had answers. She was fearful. She had lived in isolation, rejected, considered by many to be cursed by God. Now, hope made her willing to take a risk. She spotted Him. It was easy to knew Who He was, there at the center of attention. She leaned in with the thought, “If I can just touch His clothing, I’ll be healed.” Just as she did, He turned! He sensed her faith, though she was unseen. He wanted to speak with her, to complete the work so He asked, “Who touched me?” "When the woman realized that she couldn’t remain hidden, she knelt trembling before him. In front of all the people, she blurted out her story—why she touched him and how at that same moment she was healed. Jesus said, “Daughter, you took a risk trusting me, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed!” (Luke 8:47-48, The Message)

On this Monday morning, are you weary before the week has even started? Is there something that weakens you, breaks your spirit, drags you down; something for which you have not found an answer for a long time? There is One who can restore you. Will you lean in to touch Him?

Many things offer solace to us in our suffering. You think your loneliness could be relieved if only you could get your spouse to pay more attention to you. You are convinced that your life would take a turn for the better if you could just find a way to move to some new city. That new thing – car, computer, dress, cell phone, house – has become a ‘must have’ because you just know if you owned it, the hurt would go away. Maybe you have even entertained thoughts of an affair to break the tedium. Perhaps you are even ready to look for a new spiritual experience, a new church that offers something different for you. You need not be a shallow person to be tempted by such things. Few things drive us to find relief like desperation!

Lean in! Press in to touch the Lord Jesus Christ. Push through the distractions, the temptations, the clutter of stuff that would keep you from Him. Do not excuse yourself from corporate worship with the excuse that you have so much to do. Go early and sit quietly to wait on Him! Do not abandon times of mediation in which you absorb a passage from His Word. A thousand things will demand your attention. So, get up earlier and lean in to touch Him! Pray for discernment that allows you to see the temptations for what they are.

The people of God had made choices that brought terrible calamity. They were enslaved, their lives and culture in ruins. The Lord spoke to them offering hope and healing. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14, NIV) All they had to do was to lean in, to receive what He offered.

Lean in! "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9, NIV)

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Leaning On The Everlasting Arms

What a fellowship what a joy divine