“How Stella Got Her Groove Back”

 

If you could have seen her, you would know right away that life had been a heavy load for Stella. In and out of relationships her whole adult life. Often used, and sometimes abused. She bore the colors and wrinkles of a woman much older than she was.

And it wasn’t just the heaviness of everyday life that weighed on her, but she also suffered from an ailment that brought her great pain and discomfort every month. It seemed that she aged faster than most of her peers, and every month added to her weak and worn body.

Stella had tried to get help for her serious health issues, but after getting the doctor-to-doctor-to-specialist-to-specialist runaround for years, she finally resolved herself to the agony of her monthly cycle.

Not only that, she also had spent almost all of her savings trying to get the help she so desperately wanted. Even though the medical professionals couldn’t come up with an answer to heal her, they still charged her plenty just for the honor of seeing her. Stella was broke, and broken. Darkness had enveloped her days, and fear consumed her nights. She was at the end of her rope.

Then she heard a name that made her feel unlike anything she had ever experienced before. That name was Jesus. Why would just hearing that name bring her hope? What was it about this mysterious wanderer who called himself Jesus that lifted her veil of darkness and stirred her spirit like no other name she had ever heard before?

Jesus.

Jesus.

Could this Jesus be the answer that she had prayed for in her own desperate silence. Some said he was a magician who could walk on water. Others called him the Messiah, and walked with him all over the lands. Magician or Messiah? Well, Stella thought, whether he is one or the other, why not take a chance.

Word had spread throughout her village of Gadara in Capernaum that Jesus would be coming to town soon to teach and preach … and to heal and make whole. Stella had already been swindled by the inhuman and greedy medical system, so her thinking was; Why not? What does she really have to lose? When someone lives in pain and darkness for much of their adult life, they become willing to believe about anything. And if this Jesus wanted to call himself Messiah, what was it her as long as she found relief from her agony.

A few weeks later the day came when Jesus was expected to arrive in town. Stella woke up that day and said a little prayer. She hadn’t prayed in many years, but for some reason she thought, this time God is listening. She left her small shack with hope. She didn’t know why … but she was about to find out.

After walking for 2 or 3 hours, she approached the town and could see the crowds that had formed around the one they call Jesus. It wasn’t just a little crowd that could easily be forged. This crowd was expansive, and firm. Nobody was going anywhere, and no paths to Jesus seemed to exist. Stella thought she had reached the end of the road again.

But as she contemplated returning home and facing the harsh realities of her life, something inside her would not let her turn away. She was fixated on trying to see him. For some reason she thought that might be enough … just to see him. It wasn’t.

She stayed on the fringes of the crowd most of the afternoon, and just as the sun began to fall, she caught a glimpse. Jesus. Seeing the man made her heart leap. She was covered with cold chills, and yet her skin was on fire. She knew at that point, there must be a way to him. And she decided not to return home, but to do all she could with whatever strength she had left in her to reach him.

It was still impossible for her to make headway toward Jesus. But impossible was not going to stop Stella now. She didn’t care if it seemed impossible. Her heart told her it was possible. That reaching Jesus was her destiny. That touching him was her remedy.

So, she began to work her way through the crowd, being led by her simple intuition, and trust. At last, she came close enough that she could reach out and touch the hem of his robe. Instantly, she felt the ailment leave her body. And then Jesus turned around and said, “Who was that that touched my robe?”

The disciples were befuddled with this question. So many people crushing around him, how could anybody tell who touched Jesus in that town that day. It would be impossible, they told Jesus, to discover who had touched him.

Jesus said, “I know someone with faith has touched me, for I felt the healing spirit flow from my body to another’s.” It was then that Stella knew she had nowhere to hide. So, she threw herself down at Jesus’ feet and tried to tell him what the touching of his robe had done to her.

Jesus looked at Stella with great compassion. He said, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Now go in peace.”

And she did. And that’s how Stella got her groove back.

 

Lesson: No matter how desperate you may be, or how dark it may seem, there is always a path to Jesus for you. Never stop seeking more Jesus, and you just might get your groove back too!

 

Seeking More Jesus,

Pastor Bob <><