Do you want to get well?

JOHN 5, 1-15

John 5, 1-15 After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. 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?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was sabbath So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” All to often in my life I limit God. Yes, I know that God is all powerful, all knowing, all everything, but in my life I tend to forget that. I know that in countless times in my life that God has come through in significant ways, ways that were entirely beyond my imagination, but I still forget. My humanness leads to me to limit God. I still think too small and struggle to continually believe in His ongoing and daily powers that are at work within me. It’s frustrating. So, as I read John 5 and Jesus healing the lame man lying at the pool at Bethesda, I see the story through those eyes. Here we have an account on the surface that at first, I can not relate to. “Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?””- ‭‭John‬ ‭5:2-3, 5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬ I say I can not relate to this at first because on the surface; I just can not get myself to understand or connect with being sick and unable to walk for thirty-eight years. It’s hard for me to really relate to how challenging this would be, to be paralyzed, or completely disabled, this is not my condition. But, as I sit here and think about this I see this story a bit differently. No, I am not physically paralyzed or disabled, but some of my mindsets and ways of thinking can lead to being paralyzed and even disabling at times. I sit here and wonder, how many times do I need to see Jesus deliver, and far exceed my expectations before I believe? The man in the story is lying next to the pool and Jesus asked him “Would you like to get well?” This is a question that Jesus is offering all of us today, right at this moment. A strange question again on the surface, why would the man say no? Why would you or I say no to this question? This was very interesting. Why would Jesus even ask the question? Jesus was offering to heal the man, to take away a condition that he had for 38 years, a condition that defined him as who he was. Jesus posed a question that would radically alter this man's life. Are there areas in our lives where we are paralyzed? Areas that we settle for less? Areas where we have allowed ourselves to become paralyzed, and we are so familiar with it that we have found ourselves in a state of bondage to this limitation? Observe how the man responds to Jesus question; ““I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”” John 5, 7 Jesus stands ready to do infinitely more than this man can hope, dream, or imagine, and he avoids the question. This man goes to his limitations, gives excuses for why he can not be healed and why he can not be well. This is our God, this is our Savior, this is the creator of the universe, and He stands before us in this very moment offering the same to us. What is our response, are we going to list all the reason why we are stuck? Are we going to walk through our past, our baggage, our issues, and all our situations that we are justifying our mindest and our inaction? Jesus said, “Would you like to get well?” We can often go right to our disability, we give God all the excuses in the world, I can’t forgive her; I can’t be friends with him; I can’t go there; I am not a leader; I don’t have the time; the talent or whatever. We all have so manuy excuses; but the fact of the matter God does not care about our disability, God is interested in our desire and our faith. Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” God stands ready to do more than we can hope, dream, or imagine. Jesus is asking us if we would like to get well. Do we desire to be healed? If so, stand up, pick up your mat, and walk. What often seems impossible in our lives just needs us to focus on Jesus. Lord reveal to me all the areas I am limiting you. The mindsets I am carrying, the areas I am paralyzed and sick. Lord, I would like to get well. Lord, I desire to see as you want me to see and think as you desire me to think. Lord, I believe that through your mighty power at work within me, you can accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or think. Help me believe in my unbelief. This reflection is based on terry Storch https://terrystorch.com/writing/john-5-paralyzed-mindsets