The Road to Beautiful: Embracing God’s Purpose for Your Life in Difficult Situations

Imagine you are on a road trip. Suddenly you look in the rear view mirror and see blue lights flashing. What comes to your mind?

This summer, some friends and I traveled to Dunn’s River falls in Jamaica. We were enjoying our ride and having a good conversation until we were surprised by policeman who stopped us. We were going above the speed limit.  You guessed correctly. We got a speeding ticket.  Ouch! this unexpected ticket was a bump in our plans.

Have you encountered unexpected situations in your life? How did you handle these situations?

Let me tell you about a woman whose journey to beautiful was marked with a chronic illness that left her desperate and poor. Her story is recorded in Mark 5:25-35. This woman had been to every doctor but they were unable to help her. She was bleeding for 12 years. Can you imagine having your period continuously for 12 years? This would drive anyone insane.

This bleeding made her an outcast in the society because by Jewish customs at the time, a woman who was menstruating was unclean. She could not lead a normal life. Can you relate to her desperation? Certainly, her life was not going according to her plan.

Then she heard that Jesus was in town. She had heard about his miracles. She decided to go and see him. Since her bleeding made her unclean, technically she could not be in contact with others. But she was desperate enough to risk making others unclean.

If she was to be healed, this was her only chance. Jesus was surrounded by a large crowd. She joined the crowd from behind, perhaps so as not to draw attention to herself. She got close enough to touch Jesus’ garment. She thought, “If I just touch his garment, I will be healed.” She did and was healed instantly. Oh! what relief she must have felt, as her flow of blood stopped.

As Jesus felt power go out of him, he asked, “who touched me?” With fear and trembling the woman came forward. She fell at Jesus’ feet and told him the truth. Jesus said to her, daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.

For this woman to be completely healed, Jesus had to confront her. He wanted her to acknowledge her need so he could affirm her and strengthen her faith.

Where did this woman’s road to beautiful lead her? Her journey to beautiful included 12 years of suffering from chronic bleeding. Her brokenness and desperation led her to the end of herself. It brought her face to face with the only One who could heal her. It brought her to faith. Her beautiful destination was faith, physical and spiritual healing, affirmation of her identity in Christ and peace. Her faith released God’s power in her life.

This courageous woman reminds us that we should not to allow anything stand in our way on the road to beautiful. She didn’t let anything stand in her way as she pushed through the crowd. She could have used various excuses to convince herself to stay away from Jesus. She could have thought, she wasn’t important enough to ask Jesus for help or given up since all the doctors could not help her. However, she put all excuses aside and came by faith to Jesus.

This woman challenges you and I to reach out to Jesus in faith. His touch will change your life forever. The answer to our brokenness is at the feet of Jesus. She found the answer to her need when she reached out to Him.

Do you want to be healed? While we may desire physical healing, we may find spiritual healing instead. Jesus wants you to acknowledge your need. Don’t worry about a correct way to approach Jesus… come just as you are. Jesus loves you. He can give you peace in your difficult circumstances.

Do you ever feel tired and ready to give up? Maybe you are trying to mend a difficult relationship, advance your career, deal with health issues, financial struggles, failed marriage, unforgiveness or just trying to gather yourself emotionally. Whatever it may be don’t give up hope.

Too often, we wrongly assume that our lives will be easy without major challenges. I used to think this way until my journey took me through pot holes, roadblocks and detours that led me to encounter Jesus in a deeper way.

The journey to beautiful is designed to help us grow. Beautiful is embracing God’s perspective in any situation. It is when we trust Him and get on the same page with Him to wrap our arms around His plans for us.

The enemy loves to bombard us with negative thoughts, lies and accusations to cause us to question our identity in Christ. Satan’s goal is to make us feel defeated, hopeless and fearful. Jesus’ purpose is to draw us closer and to reveal who we are in Him. He is our Hope.

Don’t quit. Don’t give up. There is purpose in your journey.