What has you in a twist?

She was crippled, bent over, unable to stand straight. Luke 13.10-17
Life had twisted her in half; her best view was of her own feet.
You know her and so do I.

She's the single mother down the street whose teenager has gone off the rails.
She's the youngster ridiculed and bullied at school.
She's the elderly widow stretching peanut butter and jelly and white bread to last through two weeks because her social security doesn't pay her bills.

And she's not just a woman.  She is every man, woman and child who is bent over by the oppressive forces of this world: economic, cultural, physical, governmental.  On a good day, we find our posture and stand straight and take on the world.  On a bad day, we forget that we are God's beloved, that Jesus has the ultimate victory and the Spirit is moving and shaking and transforming this world.  On a bad day, we are twisted by this world and keep our head down and hope to get through unscathed.

Hear the good news.  No matter what this world throws at you, you are a child of God who loves you beyond all knowing.  Cling to that good news.