I went through a season in my life where I couldn’t understand what God was doing or how God was working in my life. I couldn’t understand why He brought me to the location where I knew no one. I couldn’t understand why He allowed the hurtful situations that were going on in my life to take place. I just couldn’t make sense of them. I cried myself to sleep almost every night, crying out to God, begging Him please make Himself clear to me.One night, while studying the book of John, I was on chapter 5 and before starting, I prayed that God would give me a revelation of His word.I began reading the story of the man whom Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda. I’ve read this story countless times. But this time, this time Jesus spoke in a new way.
Jesus was walking by the Pool of Bethesda where hundreds of crippled people gathered. It was believed that every year at a certain time, an Angel of the Lord visited the pool and stirred it up allowing healing for the people who would come and dip themselves in the water. .Jesus noticed a man. He walked up to Him knowing that this man had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus walked up to Him and simply asked the man, “Do you wish to get well?”
This man, who had no idea who Jesus was, responds, “I can’t sir, for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
And Jesus-without any other question says to the man, “Stand Up. Pick up your mat and walk.” And this man gets up, picks up his mat, and starts walking!
Can you imagine that? After 38 years of being confined-after 38 years of pain and suffering and ostracized from society and family and friends-this man was HEALED!
Reading this story, the Lord started speaking to me-confronting me about my situation.
No I haven’t been crippled physically for 38 years. But I knew I was crippled emotionally and mentally. I was hurting and confused from many unexpected things in my life.
And I heard God gently whisper in my heart- “Yodit, do you wish to get well?” Do you wish to be free from this emotional bondage? Do you wish to experience what I had intended for your life all along? Do you wish to be who I created you to be?”
And I responded, just like the man responded with excuses of why he wasn’t healed, “But Lord, this and this happened to me. I have a right to be angry and I have a right to be emotionally hurt and I have a right to feel this way. And I thought you were doing this in my life but…”
And God responded,., “I didn’t ask you to give me excuses. All I want to know is if you WISH to get well!”
And that’s when I realized that of course I wanted to be free. I wanted to receive all that God had for me and not be held in bondage by my circumstances just because I couldn’t understand them. HereI was making all these excuses as to why I was crippled rather than just making the CHOICE to be free. I realized I was the only one holding myself back. God simply wanted me to give Him the room to set me free.
So that night I responded, “Yes Lord, I WANT to get well!” And since that night, ladies, I have never been the same.
The truth is, life isn’t fair. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. But understand that the healing of God extends to us all. We don’t have to wallow in our self-pity because things that we didn’t think we deserved happened to us.
God is asking us daily, “do you wish to get well?” He showed me that the choice is REALLY up to us. He isn’t looking for excuses. He knows you are in pain. He knows HOW LONG you’ve been in pain. Now all He wants to know is HOW BADLY you want to be healed. How badly do you want to be free?
Here is the best part: I realized in reading this story that this crippled man had no idea who Jesus really was or the healing power of Jesus and yet when Jesus told him to stand up and walk-he didn’t doubt-He just did it.
We often see in the times where Jesus healed, faith was often the main ingredient in the people he healed. However, do you realize here that this man didn’t even know Jesus to have the kind of faith Jesus looked for. Yet, he was healed! |
