Fiercely Holding on to Hope

Many of us Jesus-loving women strive to be like the Proverbs 31 woman: hard working, a great wife and mother, shrewd, helpful, and God-fearing. But today I prayed that God would also make me more like the Luke 8 woman. You know, the one who bled for 12 years? Sometimes we skim over her story, amazed at Jesus’ healing power, but never really stopping to see how this woman honored God. I think if we take a little more time to read her story, we might be inspired enough to want to be like her, too.

On the tail-end of Luke 8, Jesus is walking through a large crowd of people to see about a sick girl. It is loud and sweaty-pushing and shoving on all sides to see this man of God. And all of a sudden, Jesus stops. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. “Well, everyone did,” was Peter’s helpful reply. Then from the middle of the crowd, a woman steps forward and falls to her knees before Him. In front of everyone, she explains that she has been bleeding for years and now she is healed. Jesus tells her that her faith has healed her and that she can go in peace. The crowd moves on-we never see the woman again. So what is so special about her?

In verse 23, it says this woman has suffered with constant bleeding for 12 years, and could find no cure. Instantly, all women know this sounds horrific. Our cycles are hellish enough, but 12 years of it?! The ESV says, “…and though she had spent all her living on physicians, she could not be healed by anyone.” Think about this for a moment: that means she had 12 years of bleeding, 12 years of doctors with no cure, 12 years of using all her money on treatments that didn’t work, 12 years of probably being told that perhaps God was punishing her…12 years of praying. 

And yet she still had hope. 

She still believed that if she could even graze a finger across a thread in Jesus’ robe, she could be healed. This woman has faith!

She fiercely held onto hope and still trusted that God could heal her—even after all that time! And with the tenderness of a father, Jesus said to her, “Daughter..”—pause for a moment. What do good fathers do? They are there for their children when they struggle. They listen. They kiss scraped up knees. When Jesus calls her daughter, I imagine He was calling her that with a very intimate awareness of her struggle. After all, He is sovereign over every cell in her body. He had heard every prayer. He had seen every tear fall. He knew well what she had been through.

“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” What refreshing words to her soul! There is promise in what He said to her! She can have peace because He healed her permanently! Her trial was over-financial stability could become reality-she could enjoy normal activities once again-and catch this…she was ceremonially clean.

In Leviticus 15, God explains that a woman on her menstrual cycle was unclean. She was basically untouchable and until her bleeding had stopped, she could not come into the tabernacle. So when Jesus instantaneously healed this woman of her bleeding, it meant that not only was her suffering over, but she could enter the Temple again. 

What a beautiful image of salvation. She had tried everything to heal herself and make herself clean. But Jesus was the one who healed her and made her clean and she could come into the presence of God again. This is what He did for us on the cross! 

I do not ask God for the kind of suffering this woman endured. But I do ask Him to grow my faith so that when I do face trials, He will find me faithful as this woman was faithful. I pray that I fiercely hold onto hope the way that she did. 

I have friends dealing with cancer and mysterious illnesses. I have family that have not ceased praying for God to bring them to the place He has promised them. And though the struggle is difficult and the road seems long, all of these people consistently show great faith in the Lord! 

Whatever your struggle, whatever your prayers, I hope you find encouragement from this woman. Maybe God will answer you today or 30 years from now, but no matter what, He is good. He is worthy of praise. He is loving. He is faithful when we are not. 

Fiercely hold onto hope. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. I pray you will be found faithful—that God would smile at you and say, “Daughter, well done! You are a good and faithful servant!”

For the King and the Kingdom,

Arianna 

Yahweh-Yireh

Let me just give you the details of these miracles.  Number 1: We have been praying for God to heal our family for over a year now & He has provided countless times for us to spend time together, rebuilding relationship and restoring hope.  In the past two weeks, our whole family has been able to be together!  And while God still has healing to do, I see Him at work and I am so thankful and excited to see where He brings all of us. I know it will be more healthy and more centered on Him, which is how our family should be.  You have to understand, this was an impossible prayer.  There was nothing a single one of us could have done to repair the hurts and fix the problems between us.  We went into prayer completely dependent on God to provide a miracle for our family because we were so broken.  And in just a short year, look where He has brought us!  God honors impossible prayers that honor Him!

Number 2: I can’t pay for school by myself.  God had provided me enough money in the first semester to pay for school, and after that I was going to have to be on my knees asking for provision.  Every semester, He has provided money for me to pay for school.  Every month He has provided money for me to pay rent (usually within a day or two of it being due) and every day He has provided enough money for food.  It makes Matthew 6:8, 25-34 really come to life.  [“For your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”; “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?  And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?  And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”]

This past semester, I still owed about $600.  Without it, I can’t sign up for next semester’s classes.  So I kept praying, knowing that God would do something, somehow, but not knowing where the money would come from.  I have also been making a point of giving money back to God, trusting that even though I don’t have a lot of money, He would be faithful to give me what I needed.  My friend, Alison, told me she’d be praying for God to provide and the next day she called to tell me that God had spoken very clearly.  He told Alison and her husband, Brad, to help me pay for school.  I knew that the bill was a little over $600 but I figured I could give them a round number and take care of the little bit extra by myself.  (silly!)  Today, I checked my bank account and saw an extra $100 in my account but didn’t know what it was for.  My Mom had given it to me for cleaning….she did not have to do that!  The number wasn’t a coincidence.  My bill was actually $690.75.  So with the money from Brad & Alison plus the money from my Mom, I am able to pay off my school bill and still have $9.25 extra in my bank account!  WHAT UP!  Seriously, God is awesome!!

Maybe this doesn’t seem like a big deal to you.  Maybe you believe it was all just coincidence and God had nothing to do with it.  But this is a big deal.  And God has everything to do with it!  I can’t tell you how many times money has randomly come in from somewhere because God is looking out for me.  Ask me for more stories!  I’d love to show off what God has done!  So thank you to everyone who has financially supported me in school: Mom, Dad & Lynne, Alyssa, Brad & Alison, Mae & Al, Ari & Matt…not to mention all the people who have lifted me up in prayer not only for financial provision but to be effective at Moody & to learn as much as I can.

If you’ll keep reading just a minute longer, I want to show you something.  This post is called Yahweh-Yireh, which comes from Genesis 22 when Abraham named a place “Yahweh-Yireh.”  It means “The LORD will provide.”  If you read through that story, God asked Abraham to put his love for God above his love for his son & Abraham was faithful to it.  The decision was incredibly hard, but he had faith that the LORD could and would raise his son from the dead if Abraham were obedient.  But before Abraham could sacrifice his son, God provided a ram for an offering—He provided a way out and a gift to offer….it was in this exact same place that the Temple would later be built where the curtain was torn in two at Jesus’ death so that we could have access to God.  God provided Jesus for us too!  The point is that Yahweh-Yireh is not just for those spiritual giants in the Bible like Abraham and Moses.  It’s for us too, because God never changes.  He still loves us just the same as He loved them & He will provide for you.  So ask!

Impossible prayers honor God & God honors impossible prayers.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

Friends ♥

Lately I have been a little frustrated with friends in general. I have felt like I was putting effort into some of my relationships but they weren’t so it felt one-sided. I don’t know that I necessarily prayed about God working in that, but He certainly heard my heart!

This past weekend, so many of my friends reached out to me letting me know that they were praying for me and I cannot even tell you how much that means to me! The fact that they remembered I needed prayer and were thinking of me touched my heart! I love the people God has surrounded me with. I love these prayer warriors around me that I know will lift me up to the Lord anytime and will be there to listen, encourage, and point me back to the Lord. So, thank you, friends, for being here for me, and thank you, Jesus, for providing these marvelous people in my life! I am beyond blessed!

A Worthy Death

When I was in an 8th grade social studies class one day, my teacher asked all of us what we wanted to be when we grew up. While other students proudly said they wanted to be firefighters and doctors, I boldly told the class, "I want to be a martyr." 

My teacher was almost dumbfounded and my classmates had no clue what I was saying. I explained that when I grew up, I wanted to die for Christ. Interesting that as an 8th grader, a 3 year old believer in Christ, I knew exactly how I wanted to go. My sisters had been reading Jesus Freaks by DC Talk and I couldn't think of a better way to meet the Lord.

I just read the story of Perpetua, a woman from Carthage (Tunis, Tunisia) from the late 100s AD who gave her life for Christ. Her father begged her to renounce Christ to save her life-even holding up her infant child before her trial to motivate her. But instead of being a dutiful daughter or choosing her child, she chose Christ. 

Perpetua spent some time in prison with her servant and friend, Felicity (who was 8 months pregnant at the time & gave birth days before her execution) along with other believers. In the darkness of the prison, they shone the light of Christ! God even gave her dreams to encourage her in what was to come!

Putting teeth to Luke 14 and Matthew 10, Perpetua and Felicity, along with their friends (including Perpetua's husband), were mauled by wild animals in front of a blood thirsty crowd and their throats were slit, releasing their spirits with great dignity and joy!

To be honest, the idea of being murdered for Christ is terrifying to me now. I cannot imagine the fear that would course through my body as the executioner moved closer. But I am also encouraged by Perpetua and Felicity. Perpetua didn't even realize that she had been attacked by an animal afterwards: Jesus had taken the brunt of it for her! I don't know if I will be martyred, but I do know that I would find unexplainable peace and joy in knowing that my life was given for Christ as a witness that others would follow Him! Not to mention the fact that I would be only moments away from being with my Lord and Savior! I would love to be in the rapture or to die peacefully in my sleep, but dying for Christ would definitely be the best way to go!

A Purposeful Prayer..

Lord, what would you make of this soul other than what you designed it be? Crashes of symbols, twiddlings of flutes, rich notes pulled from the strings of violins, rhythmic cadences of drums, tinkering piano keys…all a mess but a symphony no less and You the Great Composer of this piece…entitled “Beloved.”  You command me to move with a graceful flick of Your baton and I play myself for You.  May this song rise up to You and please You.  That I could delight my Creator, I would fulfill my purpose ♥

I Dare You To Move

Sometimes I think I am hearing from God but my own thoughts and feelings are getting in the way. And other times I am really hearing from the Lord. A good friend of mine and I made a decision that I was at peace with because I felt certain that God was giving me a clear answer. But today I felt really burdened by the emotions of the thought that I could be making a mistake. I finally got to talk to my friend Ari about it and all my emotions boiled down to one thing: fear. I am always afraid to say or do anything without being certain it is what God wants me to do because I don't want to mess anything up. And I realized that I am exhausted from being scared to move. I remember when I was trying to choose a college, I didn't feel God was giving me a clear answer either way. My mentor told me to trust in myself as a mature Christian that I wasn't going to do something completely idiotic. And she said that sometimes God doesn't care which option you pick. Sometimes God wants you to just make a decision, take a step in faith, and He'll bless you where you are. My talk with Ari encouraged me in that. She reminded me that I can't mess anything up-that God is sovereign over all of my decisions. 

On my way home, I unexpectedly ran into a friend, Jonah. He told me that he was accepted to Dallas Theological Seminary and talked about his plans to eventually teach overseas with his wife. I asked if he and his wife specifically prayed about what God wanted them to do or if it was just based off of their interests and talents. He said that he knew very early on that he wanted to teach and knew if God closed the door, he wouldn't do it, but as of right now, he's using the talents God has given him to serve the Lord. It's about your intention in using your gifts or passions. Both talks were incredibly encouraging!

I don't know if anyone is reading this, but first of all, I am thankful God has blessed me with my friends. It was an emotional day for me and usually I am a happy person. But thankfully I had friends throughout the day who were cheering me up. Nate gave me a free latte-Ari prayed withe me-Jonah encouraged me-Dan Rounds, Joel, Aaron, Ben, Sam, and Julia played ultimate frisbee with me. The day ended great because of my friends.
Second of all, if you think of it, say a prayer for me to continue to seek the Lord, but to also not be afraid to move; that I would know in my heart that I can't mess up the Lord's plans and that if I am seeking after Him, He will bless me. I don't know if I was really hearing God or what will happen in the end yet, but I'm going to keep my eyes on God! I hope this was encouraging--Its going to have to work as a reminder to myself. Love you guys--trust in the Lord <3

Dad...

I have come to the conclusion that You're the only one who is going to get me through this.

If it were up to me, things wouldn't turn out so great.

I'm tired of the conflict in my family.

I'm tired of the conflict with friends.

I'm ready to go home. 

All I can do is look to You for strength and wisdom.

So please calm my heart and mind--take over and glorify Yourself in this.

You are good. 

You are good.

You are good.

So please calm my heart and mind--take over and glorify Yourself in this.

All I can do is look to You for strength and wisdom.

I'm ready to go home.

I'm tired of the conflict with friends.

I'm tired of the conflict in my family.

If it were up to me, things wouldn't turn out so great.

I have come to the conclusion that You're the only one who is going to get me through this.

I love you, Father. Proverbs 3:5-6. Psalm 18:1-2. Psalm 37. Amen <3