Hope Mangiafico (00:00)
If Jesus is God and he could have done miracles for anyone, then the people he actually stopped for shows us his heart and quietly exposes our own. If you've ever wondered if he cares enough to help you with where you are in life, this episode is for you.
Nikki Humphrey (00:18)
Hi, I'm Nikki.
Hope Mangiafico (00:20)
Hi, I'm Hope. Welcome to Equipped Fellowship, where friends become family through Christ. We're two Jesus-loving friends on a mission to share personal stories, resources, and real talk about our triumphs, breakthroughs, struggles, and setbacks. Why? Because we believe you are called to live victoriously, and we're here to equip you with Holy Spirit-led tools and strategies to strengthen your faith, transform your mindset, and walk boldly in God's promises. Because here's the truth.
You have been given great and precious promises by God. So grab your coffee, lean in, and let's grow together. It's time to step into everything God has for you individually right now.
Nikki Humphrey (01:00)
Welcome back, friends.
We are so glad you're here today. Over the last few weeks, we've been talking a lot about the people Jesus chose. We talked about the woman he chose when everyone else rejected them. We talked about why he pointed to children when everyone else overlooked them. And today we want to make this really personal. We're going to look at the kinds of people Jesus chose to heal.
because here's what's been sitting with me. If Jesus is God, he could have healed anyone. He could have chosen the most impressive people, the most faithful, the ones who had it all together, but he didn't. And the people he did stop for, they reveal his heart. And if we're honest, they also quietly reveal ours. So today, we don't want this to feel like a Bible study. We want it to feel like a mirror.
Hope Mangiafico (01:49)
.
.
Nikki Humphrey (01:56)
As you listen, just gently ask yourself, where do I see myself in this? Not where you think you should be, but where you actually are. Because I promise you, you're in here somewhere. And where you find yourself is often exactly where Jesus wants to meet you. So let's start with our first story where people assumed they were on the outside of the line of God's faith.
Hope Mangiafico (02:24)
Yes, and this first story is the Centurion's servant who is, you can find this story in Matthew 8 verses 5 through 13 or Luke 7, 1 through 10, so you can read that later. But quick little summary is there is a Roman Centurion who is part of the occupying force of this time in Jerusalem, Israel.
You would classify them as the enemy. And his servant is sick and is near death. And he sends a word to Jesus that of this news. Right. And I love this so much because he actually the way I understood this when I was reading the story is he sends word that he needs this help. However, he is not worthy enough.
So he asked Jesus just to speak his word to bring the healing. And I sat in that and I was like, man, this man thought he was not worthy enough, because he probably sat back and was like, this Jesus, he is pure, he is a servant, he does all of these things, whereas I, this is where he, in Luke, it talks about where he knows he has this authority. He's a complete opposite of what we would see Jesus as. He has this authority. Everyone comes at his calls and what he asks for, and he's like,
having time to reflect and be like, man, I really want to help my servant because I care about him, which is a beautiful heart to have. However, like I don't align with how Jesus is, you know, like that's how I pictured this story. And so he's like, just say the word, you can't comment under my roof, not worthy of it. And the scripture says Jesus marvels at this man's faith.
Faith is such a beautiful thing because it's actually like truly trusting and believing in your core that Jesus can do it. Just am I worthy? And Jesus says, I have not found such great faith in Israel and the servant was healed at a distance. Jesus' word alone healed the servant. And so the type that Jesus chose to heal in this story would be what we would consider the culturally other.
on the wrong, if we take it for today's time, the wrong political side, the ethnic side, racial side, the divisions that we see everywhere. It's basically the opposite of what you believe, right? So Jesus chose to heal that person. And another type would be someone that the religious crowd would see as an enemy, an oppressor, an outsider. And again, we see a lot of this in the news in general all the time. And even still,
Jesus is praising this man's faith. And so this centurion reminds us that Jesus is not limited by our lines of in and out. And that's really, really important to remember because we are so quick to judge as humans on both others, which is kind of what Nikki said in the opening. Like it's going to reveal our hearts a little bit. We're like, Jesus, you're going to heal that person that believes in X, Y, and Z when that goes against my understanding of what
you stand for Jesus. So it completely dismantles our lines that we draw on the sand. And he is actually, Jesus is drawn to sincere trust, which is what we saw in this Centurion. And even in people that we would personally never pick. And what in my heart this boiled down to, and this is what I would encourage every listener with, is this shows that Jesus is after what's in your heart.
It's not about the exterior. It's not about your authority. It is not about your lack of authority. It is not about how many people are looking at you, following you on social media, even how much time you're spending in scripture. Where is your heart and belief of your savior and what he can do for you?
It's external belief system like we would have in politics. That's really, really important to remember. So from the culturally outside, which is what this story just showed, we're going to shift to the next story to the people whose faith doesn't even feel strong or certain.
Nikki Humphrey (06:46)
Yes, and this story is about the father of a demon possessed boy. And that's found in Mark 9, 14 through 29. This next story for me feels very human, because I'm a mom. And in the story it says, there's a father and he is exhausted. His son has been suffering deeply. He's possessed by demons. His behavior is erratic and out of control. And the father has already tried
Hope Mangiafico (06:48)
Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (07:16)
to get help, yet nothing worked. He went to the disciples who up to this point had a pretty good track record of healing and yet nothing happened. So by the time this father gets to Jesus, you can hear the brokenness and uncertainty in his voice. He says to Jesus, if you can do anything, please help us. And I just love how honest that is.
Hope Mangiafico (07:44)
Yeah.
.
Nikki Humphrey (07:46)
That's not boldface. That's not competent faith. That's like, I don't even know anymore, but I'm still here, Jesus, and can you help me? And Jesus says, everything is possible for the one who believes. And the Father responds with one of most real prayers in scriptures. I do believe,
dot, dot, dot, help my unbelief.
Hope Mangiafico (08:11)
Mm-hmm.
.
Nikki Humphrey (08:14)
I know I've been there a million times. And Jesus meets him right there in his perfectly imperfect faith response. Jesus rebukes the spirit and heals the void. So let me ask you, have you ever been there where you believe, but you're also tired? Where you prayed before and
didn't see what you hoped for?
when you're holding faith in one hand and doubt in the other. Because if that's you, you are exactly the kind of person Jesus moves toward. Your faith doesn't have to be perfect. You're honest, messy. I'm still here, Jesus. That's what matters to him.
Hope Mangiafico (08:53)
Okay. Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (09:08)
And for our next story, we're going to transition into if he meets people in half belief, what about situations that feel completely gone and too late?
Hope Mangiafico (09:21)
And this one was one that I really resonated with myself. And it's a story of, and this is like a really, I think, brief little snippet in scripture of the widow of, I don't even know how to say this, the widow of Nain.
name son. ⁓ but basically she is a widow and she just lost her only son. And the theme of this story is Jesus walking into places that we've already decided are over. So what's happening here is Jesus is approaching this town, which is that name town. Okay. And when I say her son is dead, like the funeral procession has already begun.
which is wild. And again, her only son, she is now family-less, really, very isolated and alone. And so that would lead to a lot of grieving and extremely vulnerable. In all cultures, like women alone with nothing, fully vulnerable all around, emotionally, physically, all of it. It's just a scary place to be. ⁓
And I believe all of us have been there to some degree, even if we weren't actually alone because we had family in the house, we have those moments of feeling really vulnerable and afraid and grieving because we're confused. Yeah. And so the story speaks on that. And what I love is Jesus's heart. says his heart goes out to her. He feels if we can always
bring to our remembrance that he feels what we feel. He knows all of these emotions that we have. If we can just remember that in the times where we are exhausted, like Nikki's story just talked about exhaustion, when you're starting to unbelieve certain things, that we can remember that his heart goes out to us because he can relate. And what he says is because he knows, he knows the truth. He knows the father better than any of us and he's the one that shows us the father.
He tells her not to cry and he touches the beer, which is almost like a casket, but it's not at all. But it's like what we would have our modern day casket. He touches that and calls her son back to life. We don't hear about the story often. We hear about Lazarus a lot. This is a big story too, ⁓ of coming back to life. And this story,
is speaking to you if you have ever accepted situations that you have accepted as final. You thought the ending was written. ⁓ In areas where grief have settled in and hope is packed away. Your girl's been there. Sometimes I think I get slapped across face even more because my name is Hope and so I'm really challenged with it. But you pack away that hope.
And Jesus is ready to interrupt it though. This is you today. He wants to interrupt what everyone else, including yourself, has wrapped up and said, let's move on. ⁓ And I really wanted to speak on a quick story on my end about Jesus kind of surprising me and breathing on something that I thought was finished. You guys have heard me talk about this a little bit, ⁓ but it's true.
So January, 2024, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, didn't know my dad hardly at all. He needed to move in with us, become a full-time caregiver to him. I was absolutely terrified. His track record was awful. And I was absolutely terrified to put any hope in restoration in our relationship. And as the time passed that he was with us and I was being his caregiver,
had a little hope, something major happened, stirred up all kinds of stuff, and it was like, I knew I shouldn't have put my hope in that. I knew that this would be the outcome. Basically, what I was saying is like, I've wrapped it up. I packed all hope away at that point. And I became afraid of hoping because that was really painful. And almost a year later to the date, he passes away from that diagnosis of cancer.
And I had all these emotions internally with the grieving, confusion, all of that stuff. And so many people would encourage me and be like, man Hope, isn't it so great though that like you don't have questions about your dad because you got to get to know him in that last year of his life. I understood the sentiment. I didn't agree with it 100%, right? You're not gonna just up and agree with what people are saying to encourage you. Just don't happen. We're human.
But what is really cool that has really surprised me is as, now it's been a little over a year since he's passed, I actually have more hope again in allowing myself to view that relationship as redeemed than I did in the moment. Jesus as the time has passed has continued to soften my heart and has made me feel like
all was not lost and I get little sprinkles of beauty and hope and restoration. And it was an area of my life that I thought could never be redeemed and for my heart to change in that. And my dad has passed away. The story is written, he did not get brought back to life in the physical sense. But the amount of life giving
things that I have felt since his physical death has been straight up miraculous by Jesus and seeing that transition happen in me. So it's so valuable that I hope that my story as well as this widow story of Jesus's healing shows that Jesus isn't ever too late to his own story, which is all of our story. He's always here with us. And he walks right into the funeral procession that we've already planned.
And maybe that's already happened. It's not over. So now transition to the people that don't even ask him for anything, yet he still shows up.
Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (15:53)
That's right. I mean,
this one I was thinking might really stretch us a little bit because if we're honest, we feel like when we're reading the Bible, there was like a system to healing. Like the person was desperate, they reached out, this was their last hope, they went to Jesus and boom, healed, right? But these are, I don't know, it's almost like frosting.
Hope Mangiafico (16:07)
Right.
Seriously.
Nikki Humphrey (16:21)
It's like a little bit extra. Like what Hope has been saying, what I've been saying through this, like when Jesus was here, he noticed everything. The big things, the small things, the broken things, the perfect things. He noticed it all and moved with his heart into each of these situations.
Hope Mangiafico (16:31)
Yes.
Nikki Humphrey (16:46)
So this first one is the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5. So this man's been sick for 38 years, lying by the pool, just waiting to be healed. Like that's a long time, 38 years to be waiting by a pool that people thought like if you went in it, your first one to get in, you'd be miraculously healed. He's just waiting there in his victim. I always saw this guy as like,
Hope Mangiafico (16:46)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (17:15)
victim mindset, like, couldn't get over the victim mindset to help himself do anything. And Jesus comes up to him and asks him, do you want to get well? And the man doesn't even really answer. He kind of goes mute. And he just explains why victimhood, why he can't get there. And Jesus heals him anyway.
Hope Mangiafico (17:17)
Right. ⁓
It's amazing.
Nikki Humphrey (17:41)
Awesome, you didn't even ask for it.
This next one is in Luke 22 or John 18. It's Malachus' ear. There's a moment where Jesus is being arrested in the garden. You can imagine this chaos that's coming. Like Jesus knows it's coming, but nobody else really knows what's about to happen. So there is just emotion, tension. There's probably shouting. I can imagine in my
Hope Mangiafico (18:00)
Yeah. Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (18:14)
sacred imagination that this was not calm and peaceful. And one of the disciples cuts off a man's ear. One of the men that was coming to arrest Jesus. And Jesus heals the man, touches where it was, heals
him. The man who came to arrest him, like I can't even get over that.
Hope Mangiafico (18:36)
I honestly don't know if I've sat with that truth until we were working on this episode. Like you read it and you're like, wow, another miracle. But it's like, wait, wait, what?
Nikki Humphrey (18:46)
In the middle of all that chaos, again, Jesus led with his heart and healed the person who was going to arrest him to take him to his crucifixion.
Hope Mangiafico (18:49)
Mm.
Hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (19:02)
Like I know if I was in that situation, all this chaos and like something happened, my first thought wouldn't be, let's take care of the person who's trying to do me harm.
Hope Mangiafico (19:13)
It's like he could live without a near, it's fine.
Nikki Humphrey (19:15)
I just got another one.
But here he is, healing, leading with his heart, leading with compassion. And then Jesus's first miracle, the water to wine in John 2, there's a wedding, again, a celebration. He's there, his mom's there, the disciples are there. And at this wedding, they run out of wine.
which is pretty embarrassing for the host of the wedding to run out of wine. That's like one of the staple things back in the day. Like if you're going to have one thing last throughout the entire wedding ceremony, which was a couple days, keep the wine flowing. It was embarrassing, but it's not life or death. And Jesus's mom comes to him and is like, Hey, like encouraging as us moms do sometimes like,
Hope Mangiafico (19:49)
Yeah. You're bright.
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (20:16)
think you should, you know, make something happen here with the wine. This is the Nikki interpretation. And he's like, no, it's not my time woman. It's not my time. And then Mary, I love Mary,
because this is such a mom thing, like goes to the service, you do whatever he tells you to do. Because it's about to be on. And then Jesus.
quietly doesn't make a big show of it, tells the people to fill these things with water and quietly turns the water into wine. And most people, unless you're in that room, didn't even know it happened.
Hope Mangiafico (21:00)
I don't. Yeah. You too.
Nikki Humphrey (21:00)
crazy.
And if we're honest, these stories can mess with us a little because this is for the person who thinks, I didn't pray right. I don't ask the right way. I haven't been showing up for God. So why would he show up for me? Or maybe even if you've ever felt frustrated watching God move in somebody else's life, conviction for me right there. Yes. And thinking, but they're not even trying
as hard as I am. Yeah. Been there.
But these stories remind us something really important. Miracles are not rewards of good Christian behavior. They reveal Jesus's kindness. He cares about the hidden pressure, the quiet needs, even the things you've told yourself are too small to bring to him. They're not.
Hope Mangiafico (21:38)
Hmm Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (21:56)
So
from now, we're going to go from the ones who didn't even ask to the ones everyone assumes shouldn't need anything.
Hope Mangiafico (22:06)
Yep. This was an interesting one to me that like I felt so heavy on my heart when we were discussing like this episode in general of like, man, she's did so many miracles and Nick and I have talked a couple of times. I think I think we have an episode. They're just like
being strong, showing up. And so like people don't, unless they have the discernment with Holy Spirit, they're really long clothes, like they don't really know what your needs are because you put on the face, the front, we've definitely talked about that at least. ⁓ And they come to you because you seem like you have it all together. And that pains me a lot because that's definitely part of my story ⁓ that I honestly would have never probably realized if someone didn't call it out on me.
So anyway, this one got me really excited because it's talking about, Gyrus, the synagogue leader. So, this is in Mark five versus 22 through 43. It's actually a chunk of scripture because
Jairus comes up and he is begging for help for his dying daughter and the scripture is long because on the way over to his daughter that is dying Jesus is busy doing another miracle in which we talked about in the episode of the women that Jesus chose that everyone else rejected. Jesus is on the way saying okay I got you bro I'm gonna help you let's go.
But meanwhile, let me go help this woman with the issue of blood. And I just can't even imagine like, okay, he has been synagogue leader has been vulnerable enough, right to fall at the feet of Jesus begging for help. now there's a delay. I actually thinking about this now. It makes me wonder, and Nikki, I'm curious if you actually can relate to this too, where you're always a strong person, you finally become vulnerable, it seems like it's not being honored.
Nikki Humphrey (24:07)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (24:08)
I just thought about that and you're like crap, I did this for nothing. Now again, embarrassment like the wine story. I just saw that like was he embarrassed while trusting Jesus on this journey? Man. Okay, that just hit me on whole nother level. So he comes, falls at Jesus feet, begging for his dying daughter. And while they're on the way with that other miracle, some of his servants or other people from
synagogue come and they're like hey you're don't bother don't bother teacher he's already dead and I love this Jesus says to him don't be afraid just believe which is interesting because Nicky's already shared the story about the man with the demon possessed boy who had
but he did still have belief. And that's the key that I definitely took away from this story that Nicky shared about the father, the demon possessed boy is our lives are not hopeless. Our stories are not hopeless. If we have even an inkling of belief that yes, and the belief is just like, yes, Jesus, you're my savior. That's all you gotta have for him to show up. So now we're seeing a theme here in stories. And so what I love about that.
Nikki Humphrey (25:23)
That's right.
Hope Mangiafico (25:32)
is that doubt comes in you. People, we were so quick to hear the outside world and start leaning into it. I just had a conversation with someone yesterday. I'm like, girl, I'm gonna pull you back out because you had a decision until you started talking yourself out of it. But we do that, right? And Jesus, he resists the planting of the seeds by telling,
Jairus, don't be afraid, just believe. And so they finally get to the synagogue, to the house and he goes into the house and raises the girl. Now here's the other thing about this story, Nikki, you and I have talked about this in episodes in the past too. When we talked about faith. Jesus did have to continue planting that seed of hope and resisting.
the doubt that was coming in because when he went in to raise this daughter, he had to kick all the people that were full of doubt out. Let that be a word for you if you are believing something and for something but you feel overwhelmed by the negativity and the doubt whether it's in your thoughts because you're allowing that or from outside world, you need to kick it out in the name of Jesus and resist like scripture says, resist the enemy and he shall flee. Jesus literally had to kick them out.
because that heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy doubt. This isn't just a little seed of doubt. These people did not believe.
kicked him out, raised her back up despite the negativity and the doubts. And that story has so many beautiful parts, but the take home here is if you're seen as a spiritually strong, you've been known as a respected leader and that vulnerability is scary.
Even if you are the person that everyone comes to for prayer, even if, like I said in the beginning, you actually are the strong one to everyone else when you're actually falling apart on the inside. He sees that. He knows it. He knows it intimately as we've talked about already in other stories.
You are still desperate. You are still needy. And here's the part that I've talked about many times on episodes. You are still human. And it's your humanity that Jesus loves. And he's after and will need to pursue.
Don't dismiss the humanity and try and be strong all the time. You'll actually.
either slow down the miracle or say no thank you without realizing you're saying no thank you. was a word from you just now. Thank you. ⁓ So the story says, hey, Jesus isn't impressed by your image. He responds to your honesty and you get the chance to collapse at his feet just like everyone else has been trying to do to you. You're worthy of it. So Jesus here in this story pursuing the strong,
quiet ones, then leads us to this next story where he walks. love this next part. Jesus walks right into an ordinary home and touches people that we would call just in the background. There are just people walking on the
Nikki Humphrey (28:51)
good. And this story is about Peter's mother-in-law. we got a soft spot for Peter, don't we? ⁓
Hope Mangiafico (28:55)
You
He is the one that cut off the ear by the way.
Nikki Humphrey (29:02)
Yeah, I forgot to mention that, was Peter, again, love
So this story is found in Mark 1. Jesus walks into Peter's home and Peter's mother-in-law is in bed with a fever. No crowd, no spotlight, but Jesus sees her. He takes her hand, lifts her up, heals her, and this is the best part, begins to serve them.
Hope Mangiafico (29:22)
Hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (29:30)
I mean, talk about a full and complete healing. She was sick. She was on her way out. Jesus heals her, lifts her up. And she's like, what do you
Hope Mangiafico (29:34)
Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (29:42)
need? Like, are you thirsty? Are you hungry? What is it that you want?
And just like Hope kind of alluded to in the last and she even said like, maybe that's you, maybe you're the one who takes care of everyone else. Maybe you're the one always serving. You show up, you serve, you keep things running. And sometimes you wonder, does anyone even
Hope Mangiafico (29:58)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (30:10)
see me? Does anyone even appreciate the thought, the effort, the preparation it took to see this thing?
through. And I want to remind you today, just like Hope said, Jesus sees you. He doesn't only move in big public moments. He walks into homes. He walks into your mind. He walks into your spirit. And he touches the lives no one else is paying attention to.
Hope Mangiafico (30:38)
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (30:47)
So the next time you're telling us, nobody understands, nobody sees me, nobody is grateful for you, Jesus is. He loves you so much. know. Also, daughter, how many of these stories in these past couple of weeks has Jesus called a woman daughter?
Hope Mangiafico (30:58)
I feel it.
Nikki Humphrey (31:06)
He sees it all, he hears it all, he feels it all.
So we are never alone. cannot forget that. That's so important. It is not just words coming out of my mouth because like Hope and I have said countless times on this podcast, when we felt at our worst and we reached out to Jesus, He shows up every single time. Sometimes it's in big ways. Sometimes it's a whisper. Sometimes it's a feeling. Sometimes it's a thought.
Hope Mangiafico (31:19)
Okay.
Nikki Humphrey (31:39)
but he is showing up and he is so grateful for you.
So to transition, for some of us, it's not just being unseen. It's the weight of shame or feeling like we did this to ourselves. Ooh, I know I've been there.
Hope Mangiafico (31:59)
But what I love that you already planted the seed for is that our story involves him yet again calling someone daughter despite them thinking they did it to themselves. He's such a good savior. God is such a good, good father. So good. So this story is about a woman that's been bent over for 18 years and it's in Luke 13 10 through 17.
And it's just this beautiful theme of Jesus restoring dignity. And I love that word because how often do we feel worthless? And like we can't even show our face, even if it's for a small action that we've kind of tucked away that no one knows about, right? It's hidden in our secret place, but we still think we're not worthy. So he restores the dignity to this woman.
where shame and spiritual blame has lived for years in her life.
And just for a moment, I have to talk about the spiritual blame part because Nikki probably has her own story with this, but something I had to unlearn was the spiritual blame or not having enough faith because when I first gave my life to Christ, I had this like neck problem where my neck got stuck kind of sideways and it was very painful. And someone told me like, hey, you just don't have enough faith, just force it, know, believe that he'll show up and just turn it the other way.
And it may be like crap, so my faith is the problem. The lack of faith is the problem. But what Nikki pointed out, none of these stories have actually painted that picture that your faith is not sufficient.
It's more about, believe, help my unbelief. So not a lack of faith. And as long as you say to Jesus, you're my savior.
And I keep going back to that. think it's because that is the starting place. It's where everything is built.
Because we grow in faith, we don't come naturally to trusting the process, that's part of being human, but the belief is all that it takes. And then we grow in faith as part of the sanctification process, that growth process. But if you speak to him as your savior, and the man that came to chase you down, to pursue you, to say and express what Nikki said, there's hope, and there's restoration.
and there's nothing to blame you individually for. I just have to say that. So this woman's been bent over for 18 years, unable to stand up straight.
Jesus sees her. And actually, when think about it, she was bent over. That was probably really hard to see her. I hadn't thought about that before. We don't know how bent over she was, but she was probably lower than everybody else. But it's like what Nikki said, that Jesus sees us all. He knows and follows his heart where it leads him, It's like he can feel where the needs are and where the people are that will receive what he has to offer.
And he calls her forward and says, you are set free from your infirmity. And infirmity is like the ailment that you're dealing with.
So she straightens up and it's kind of like Peter's mother-in-law being like a servant. She straightens up and immediately goes into praising the father, praising God. And this sounds wonderful except the synagogue leaders and we're not talking about this one that we've already discussed in another miracle story. This is a different synagogue leader. indignant, angry because it's the Sabbath and you rest on the Sabbath. You don't do work.
They prefer law over miracles. mind you, that Jesus came to fulfill the law, so he doesn't disrespect it. He just understands the bigger picture, right? He can zoom out a lot better than the rest of us, a lot better than those synagogue leaders could.
So he defends her and calls her daughter of Abraham. And we know Abraham as the father of faith. So again, she didn't even have to express faith, but he calls her basically daughter of faith. So this may be like you. You've been long-term suffering, possibly seen as a failure, not having enough
which we already talked about, can throw that out the window based off what Jesus said to this woman, or that you're a spiritual failure because it's manifesting through your body. And maybe you have this public weakness that everyone can see.
You know, a weakness that the world can identify you by. And that feels embarrassing and shameful like we discussed. Or maybe you believe it's your fault. Just like we said in the opening of the story, I brought this on myself, so I really don't deserve to be healed or helped. And yes, we all make really silly choices. Reality check, that's called being human.
But the Father is not sitting up there despite what people may say about judgment and sitting on the judgment seat. He is not keeping a record of right and wrongs. Scripture says love does not keep a record of right and wrongs, so you have absolutely no right to keep a record of right and wrongs of what you've done. Absolutely none. He cast your sins as far as the east is from the west as long as you repent.
So you deserved to be healed and you deserved to be helped because he says, you are my daughter. I did this for you. I die for you on the cross for you as the listener for you, Nikki, for myself, hope. Forget the stupid mistakes. Leave them in the past. Don't bring them to the future. Don't bring them in the present. They're weights, as Paul would say. It's keeping you from pursuing what he has for you.
And if you've been the person that feels full of shame and it's causing you to pull away from God or from community, and because it's all related to the pain that you're feeling, and I've been that person, and even now sometimes I am still that person today, he's coming after you. And he will pursue you directly. He'll do it through other people speaking to you, through their presence, through their heart.
So this is a warning sign to not pull away any further because of shame.
And we've had episodes on shame. We had an episode a long time ago about shame and guilt. So you can go listen to that if you're struggling with shame.
So Jesus is calling her publicly, this is so cool, calling her the daughter out in the open and he restores her identity in front of everyone. If you stay hidden, no one gets to see your restoration and the thing is, it might sound being me again, know, humble. But if you stay hidden, it actually denies God the glory. The reason we want
your restoration to be seen is because it will be for the glory of God. And that's what this story shows. By overcoming the fear and the shame, you get restored into beauty and the world gets to see it and glorify your savior. So Nikki, let's pull all of this together and talk about what this means for us individually as we're longing for healing and restoration and wanting it, right?
Let's bring it home.
Nikki Humphrey (39:50)
Here we go. The outsider, the doubter, the grieving, the overlooked, the ashamed, the strong but struggling, the ones who didn't even ask right. That's the one Jesus keeps stopping for. So let me ask you this one more time. Where do you see yourself? Not where you think you should be, but where you actually...
Hope Mangiafico (39:53)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (40:22)
And to help us with that, I'm gonna say a prayer here.
So just stop if you can, close your eyes and lean in.
Jesus, this is where I see myself today. Thank you that you stopped for people like this. And I know in my heart, you will stop for a person just like me. I bring you my outsiderness, my tired faith, my too late place, my hidden need and my shame.
And I believe you haven't changed. Help me receive your love here today and every day. Amen.
Hope Mangiafico (41:03)
If you've taken anything away from today, we hope that you realize you are not the exception to his mercy and his love.
You are exactly the kind of person he continues stopping for. It didn't end in the scriptures. He's still stopping for you. Until next time, we're gonna see you in the overflow. We hope you join us there because we got some more stories to talk about.
