The Bible says: ‘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”’ (v.11-12 NKJV). Notice four things in this story: the person, the problem, the Great Physician, and the prescription. For every person, there’ll be a problem. But more importantly, for every problem we face, the Great Physician has a prescription. Jesus’ opening statement to the problem in this woman’s life wasn’t a recommendation for counselling – it was a challenging affirmation: ‘You are loosed!’ Christian counsellors are a gift from God, but sometimes it takes more than just talking about problems. There comes a time when, with God’s help, we need to take action too. Jesus knew it was time for the woman to claim her freedom. After we’ve realised the problem and understood its cause and where it came from, it will then take the powerful authority of God’s Word to put the past behind us. This woman was suffering as the result of something that had attacked her eighteen years before, but her pain was as fresh that day as it was on the day it started. But while her problem was rooted in the past, her prescription could only be found in a present word from God. Jesus, who is the Living Word, is ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV). The word from God that we’re hearing today is able to heal our problems of yesterday! Jesus said, ‘you are loosed from your infirmity.’ And that promise applies to all of us.
