The woman was bowed over. She was a faithful woman who walked to the house of God on the sabbath for decades. Perseverance wasn’t her problem. She never stopped going even though she had more challenges in her life than most. She had courage and commitment. Everyone looked at her. Some pitied her and some secretly thought she must be less holy than she looked. The ancient Jews believed the righteous earned good things but the unrighteous deserved only bad. (This was a generalization based on Proverbs, but the rest of the Bible shows that bad things do happen to good people.)

She stood through the service and then Jesus stood up in the synagogue, angry that a woman could be 18 years in the house of God and still bent over by an evil spirit. He was angry that a devil seemingly enjoyed the powerless meetings. “Ought not this daughter of Abraham be loosed on the Sabbath day (Luke 13.11) Ought not  this women be whole in the house of God. He commands demons to go and her back straightens.

How did a faithful women get bent over in the house of God?  The troubles of life touch us all, but it is never what happens to us in life that bends us out of shape, rather it is always the lies that Satan attaches to those events. Perhaps it began when someone close to her, was one of the people killed when the tower of Siloam fell. Perhaps the women had been lied to by the enemy and she had believed it. “God doesn’t care for you; you must have been a bad person; your life is a waste of time, you’ll never be well, God doesn’t think you are worthy.” The lies turned her gaze downward. It became permanent.

What lies has the enemy told you? “God can’t forgive you that many times, or you can’t hear from God, you have wasted your life” and as we believe his lies, we start bending over, loosing faith, looking down instead of looking up.

Friend, the truth is, Jesus loves you and your house is the house of God. He has come to your house and He wants you free from every lie of Satan. Hear Him speak and let His word touch you and straighten you as a pillar in His house. Look up! Be loosed from the infirmity of your thoughts.