March 16, 2021
John tells the story of an encounter of Jesus with a lame man at the healing pool of Bethesda. He tells us that . . . One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” Jn_5:1-16
The man made the excuse that he couldn’t find help to dip him into the pool. You would think that after 38-years there would have been somebody! Or else, maybe he really didn’t WANT to be well.
Sometimes, beloved, we tend to revel in our misfortunes. We like the attention it brings. We like complaining. And we become comfortable in our misery. But when something changes it, all of a sudden we have this gaping hole where the misery used to fill our lives. The man was probably upset that Jesus healed him. And so when Jesus told him not to publicize the affair, the first thing he did was report it to those conspiring against Jesus.
It’s a funny reminder of how we can sometimes hang on too tightly to our own misfortunes. Do we REALLY want to get well? Maybe it’s time to do some deep soul searching. Maybe it’s time to either own up to seeking an answer, or to just stop complaining. And there’s the second part of the problem. Beyond seeking the attention that our misery brings to us, we are also seeking to bring everyone else down to where we are.
Well maybe no one else WANTS to be in the state we’re in. Maybe everyone else is tired of hearing our belly-aching. Maybe that’s why we have no friends, no jobs, no hope. You see, beloved, Jesus is here to lift us out of that life. Jesus is here to help us find an answer that’s much much better than misery and complaint. Jesus is here to offer us hope.
Trust in Him and He will point you in a better direction. And with a new smile on your face and hope in your pocket, no matter what those struggles of yours may be, that yoke will be lifted and all will be better. Trust in Jesus!!
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Whispers to the Wind 