And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of
infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could
in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called
her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from
thine infirmity. Luke 13:11-12
The Holy Spirit periodically lets us catch a glimpse of the
personal testimony of one of the patients of the Divine
Physician Himself. This woman’s dilemma is her own, but
perhaps you will find some point of relativity between her case
history and your own. She could be like someone you know or
have known; she could even be like you.
There are three major characters in this story. These
characters are the person, the problem and the prescription. It
is important to remember that for every person, there will be a
problem. Even more importantly, for every problem, our God
has a prescription!
Jesus’ opening statement to the problem in this woman’s
life is not a recommendation for counseling—it is a challenging
command! Often much more is involved in maintaining
deliverance than just discussing past trauma. Jesus did not
counsel what should have been commanded. I am not,
however, against seeking the counsel of godly men. On the
contrary, the Scriptures say: