LOST AND FOUND WEEK 4:
IN THE CROWD
For many, the word “poverty” means a lack of money or material possessions. However, many see the lack of material things only as symptoms of a deeper problem. They define poverty to really be a lack or loss of hope. They hold that when someone is truly stuck in a cycle of poverty, that primarily it is because they have lost the hope of ever being able to get out of that cycle. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” One of the definitions for the word poverty is “a deficiency of necessary or desirable ingredients, qualities, etc…” and I believe that one of the most necessary ingredients for a fulfilled life is hope.
In Luke 8, we have the account of a woman who encounters Jesus in a unique way. We simply know her as “the woman with the issue of blood.” We don’t know much else about her except that she had been treated and mistreated by doctors for a long time, and she hadn’t gotten any better. On top of that, because of her condition, she would have been considered unclean…and therefore shunned by society and not allowed to interact with other people (because she would cause them to be “unclean” too). For her to intentionally try to interact with people, she could actually be killed. I am certain that the pain from her condition and the pain from her position as unclean had drained her hope. But one day, Jesus passes through the area where she was. Despite what she knew could happen to her, she pushes through the crowd and touches his garments. The Bible says that Jesus immediately stopped. He was willing to stop what he was doing to address the one that everyone else was stepping around.
Just like this moment with the woman in the story, Jesus still stops for the marginalized and the overlooked. He notices our hurts. He cares for the unloved and he lifts the fallen. You are not an interruption to Jesus.
Bring what faith you have to Jesus, even if it feels small, desperate, or faltering. Stop letting pain, shame, suffering, and disillusionment define you. Let Jesus bring healing, dignity, and wholeness that only he can bring into your life. You are not invisible to Jesus.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
One definition for poverty is a lack of hope. Take a few minutes and discuss how this definition can be true and how it relates to our lives.
Read Proverbs 13:12. What does that verse mean to you?
Read Luke 8:43-48. What are some principles we can pull from this passage in relation to having hope?
How does a real encounter with Jesus change how we may view hope?
Take a few moments and discuss the relationship between faith and hope. How can just a small amount of faith feed into us having hope for the future?