Do you want to get well?

A little ditty about John 5. Or read it here in the Message.

What an interesting comment Jesus made. You would think that He would just assume that the person at Bethesda wanted this, surely, but He asks something important. Have we lost hope for things to get better? Obviously with God on our side, the truth is that yes, healing is possible. But our wanting the healing makes a big difference. Here's some good stuff from Ray Stedman...

"What did Jesus say to a man who had lost all hope, a man who had given up on himself? Did he say, "Oh, come on, I'll help you get into the pool the next time the water is troubled"? No, he did not say that. He did not offer that kind of help. He could have, but he did not. Did he say, "Hang on. Keep coming here. Perhaps some day you'll make it in time. Some day it will all work out. Some day you'll be right at the edge of the pool when it's troubled and all you'll have to do is fall in"? No, he did not say that either. Did he say, "Let's at least make you comfortable. Let's get you a new mattress to lie on, put a few flowers around you and bring you two meals a day"? No, he did not. These are the suggestions of men, what we say to people. But Jesus does not say any of those things to people who want to hear from him.

"What does Jesus say, then? Notice carefully his method: First, he asks an impossible thing; secondly, he removes all possibility of a relapse; and thirdly, he expects a continued success. All these are involved in the words,

"Rise, take up your pallet, and walk." And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. {John 5:8b-9a RSV}

"That is a critical clue many miss when they are looking for help from God. There is always something God tells them to believe, and do, and act on. This is a word of action. Jesus does not say, "Try to build up faith in your mind. Try to fasten your thoughts on this or that." He tells them to do something: "Rise! Stand up!" Obviously it was Jesus' will that this man should do what he told him to do, and the moment the man's will agreed with the Lord's will the power was there. I do not know whether he felt anything or not. All I know is that strength came into his bones and into his muscles and he could stand. He knew he could stand, and he did."

I saw a very strange couple on Dr. Phil the other day. Yeah, Dr. Phil really rubs me the wrong way but the premise was interesting and for a while there, I thought the guy was an old boyfriend of mine from years ago...looked just like him and shared his name, Minnesota accent, everything. The couple had around seven kids, both were college educated, but neither worked, and were expecting to be foreclosed on any day. The guy was just full of excuses and kept saying that God would provide for them. Yeah, maybe, but are you doing what He is telling you to do? Doubt it. Sorry to be so crass, but when kids are involved, I get pretty "mama bear" about it all. Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you? Perhaps that is a summary of all this.

That guy needed to be part of the solution. Yeah, God could just drop a healing on someone, but our action in the midst of the pain shows that we trust Him and are willing to obey. I want to be a grown up, mature child of God and my actions can show my trust or lack thereof. I want to show I still trust Him even when things totally suck, as they have. I want to also acknowledge the good stuff going on too. These are small changes, but maybe more profound than I realize. I hope they are.

At any rate, I got some good encouragement from this passage to keep fighting for healing and working as hard as possible to get better, and be productive in whatever way that means. I want to seek the productivity God wants for me and pursue that. I don't want to be a people pleaser, I want to please God. Learning a lot about that along the way. Surely burning myself out caring for others because I didn't think I was worth caring for is not what God wants. I'm a slow learner, but the good thing is that I'm learning, so I'm encouraged about that.