Mindy Lee Hopman

Do you feel like you’re hanging on by a thread? 

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

Together we are coming to the end of a school year that contained a completely different school environment and structure, new platforms, masks, team adjustments, practice regulations, game regulations, school rules and restrictions, fan regulations, virtual events, Zoom classes, Zoom FCA Leadership Huddles, Zoom and in-person FCA Campus Huddles, and new FCA Team Huddles for teams who were competing, just to name a few experiences! 

Restless

As we continue to move through the next wave of the pandemic, we pray for rest in God to process our new “normal” today. Life is not “as we knew it.” Restlessness abounds. St. Augustine reminds us, “Our heart is restless until it rests in you.”  When we come to the end of ourselves, it feels as though we are hanging on by a thread. 

A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse – after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind him and touched his cloak. For she thought, ‘If I just touch His garments, I will get well.’ Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said ‘Who touched my garments?’ And His disciples said to Him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction. Mark 5:25-34 (NASB)

The woman was sick for 12 long years. She had spent all she had, and would not get better. Nothing of the world could cure her. She would have been ceremonial unclean which meant she could not go to the temple to request prayer or healing. She heard about Jesus, so she fixed her focus on Him and she actively moved forward to touch His garments (or the hem of His robe). Immediately the power moved from Jesus to her whole body and healed her affliction. 

Jesus turned around and asked, “Who touched me?” Do you think He didn’t know?

Completely Fixed

She knew He knew because she physically experienced the truth become alive. 

• Hearing births hope. 
• Faith proceeds power.
• Truth displays courage.

Similar to Job in the Old Testament when he said, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” Job 42:5 (NLT)

Have you moved from hearing about Jesus to experiencing Him with your own eyes?

So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. Romans 10:17 (NLT) 

She fixed her eyes; He fixed her body. 

In the middle of the chaos, the woman touched Christ. Why was the touch so important? 

The Lord also spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the LORD your God. Numbers 15:37-41 (NASB) 

Look at God or the symbol of God and remember the promises I have kept in the past… so you do not follow your own heart, your own eyes, and be holy, keep your eyes on Me. I alone am your God. 

The tassels, in Hebrew, called tzitzit, attach to the four corners of the tallit or Jewish prayer shawl. They are more than decorations, they are reminders to think of God at all times. The tzitzit numerical value is 600 which corresponds to the 613 commands in the Torah. The tzitzit knots are tied in a way to represent the Shema found in Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 

Shema Israel Adonai Elihanu Adonai Echad 

To shema means more than to hear, it means to obey, pay attention, focus. Obey the Lord at all times. It is said two-three times a day, to begin the day and end the day to remember who is in control of the day and remind the Jews they are One in Him. 

When we understand the depth of The Father’s love for us, and choose to follow Him, we become one. – Beautiful Legacy 

Our human hearts long for oneness. Our hearts long for consistency.
The woman was unraveled. She heard the truth and she responded. With everything she had, she believed. With everything she had, she acted intentionally. With everything He had, He healed her. 

Jesus was gentle. He showed no partiality to her because she was unclean or because she was a woman, Galatians 3:28-29 reminds us in Him, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:28-29 (NASB1995)

Jesus spoke truth to everyone. He didn’t differentiate between class, culture, or gender. 

While the woman looked at the tzitit and everything it stood for at the time, we look at the cross.

Jesus throws us the thread of hope by way of the cross. When He died on the cross, He died for all and He became our symbol of hope, freedom, and healing today. 

…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians 1:20 (ESV)

Complete Transformation occurs at the foot of the cross. 

• Death comes to life. 
• Sadness turns to hope. 
• Anxiety turns to peace. 
• Fear turns to faith. 
• Hate turns to love. 
• Brokenness turns to healing.

In Hebrew a word for hope is tikvah and one way it can be translated is “cord.” Jesus becomes our Living Hope or cord that we hold onto with great expectation.

…to lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB1995)

Cord of HOPE

He wants us to release the threads of this world which so easily entangle us, and hold onto the truth of Hope. Jesus is our Living Hope. Just as Rahab was saved by way of a scarlet thread (Joshua 2:14-15), we are saved by way of the blood on the cross.

On Him, we fix our eyes. He is the only cord or thread, to hold onto. And here is the key, you can only hold onto one cord. 

For it is for this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. 1 Timothy 4:10 (NASB1995) 

Where we intentionally fix our eyes matters. 

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. 2nd Corinthians 4:18 (NLT) 

And then God does what only He can do He knits all of our threads together as one in the body of Christ. You matter and we need each other – together we are one. 

God brings each believer together to knit a beautiful tapestry called the church. The church is made up of a body of believers who pray for each other, support each other, care for each other, and love each other to ignite hearts for Jesus to pass down the legacy of our faith. Together we are all holding onto the same cord or thread, called hope. 

When we come to the end of ourselves, it feels as though we are hanging on by a thread and this is where we find Jesus. 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:4-8 (NASB)  

As the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are to remain in Christ and completely fix our eyes on Him as He gives us the cord or thread of hope. It’s okay if you are hanging on by a thread, as long as the thread is Jesus. 

Let us all remember where we are in this moment of time.
Let us reach out to encourage each member of the body of Christ God has placed in our spaces.
Let us extend grace when we are stretched too thin because honestly, we all are. 

Heavenly Father,

  I praise you for Your presence in every aspect of our lives – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Today we pause to remember. We remember Your promises. We pray for rest in You in the middle of the chaos. You know our bodies need rest because on the seventh day You rested. You find us. You give our hearts hope. You bring us back to Yourself and let our hearts find rest in You. Thank you for the rest You provide – physically, emotionally, and Spiritually.  May we shift our focus from self to Savior long enough to follow You and hold onto the cord of hope you provide as we enjoy the peace we find in You. By way of the bloodshed on the cross, You bring us all together as one, and for that I am grateful. 

In the precious name of Jesus, I pray,  Amen