He Meets You Where You Are

Waiting by the pool in Bethesda there lay a man.  In John 5:1-15 it tells the story of a man who was sick for 38 years. Day after day he waited at the Pool of Bethesda for a miracle. Everyday he waited for someone to have a little bit of pity on him and place him in the pool. He just needed one dip after the angel stirred the water. He needed one person to put him in the water before anyone else had stepped in.

But there were others in great need waiting for their own miracle.  Each in ready mode to reach the water first.  Who might get their miracle?  Only one would reap the healing that so many needed. Every time the water would stir, another would enter the water before he could possibly get there.  Year after year I imagine he yearned for a healing so he could live a life worth something. But no one cared for him enough to place their own great needs aside and dip his toe first.

Why Jesus came for him I cannot explain. Why Jesus chose to speak to him I do not know. Many others were there. Many others needed to be healed. The blind, lame, paralyzed and sick were there by the multitude. But Jesus had come to save this one man at the pool.

Just like the lame man, I laid in my sin for years waiting for a miracle to happen and fix my problems.  I waited for the waters of life to stir in my direction so I could be the first to step in and receive a miraculous change. Life was unfair.  I blamed my circumstances for why I always found myself unhappy and unsuccessful.  It continued year after year until Jesus came to the pool of my life to save me. Jesus came to where I was.  I didn’t have to go find Him, He found me.  So many years have past and still He continually comes to where I am to save me from myself.  I don’t deserve it.  I am often selfish and self reliant.  I try to do things on my own without Him.  Yet He always comes for me.

I can’t understand why he continues to be faithful to me. So many around me have needs so much greater than mine. But yet he continually comes where ever I am. He comes to find me among all the multitudes of people. He comes in spite of my rebellious heart and my tendency to want to control things.  “Do you want to be made well?” was the question Jesus asked the man. It’s the same question he has asked me so many times. The man at the pool answered with “I have nobody to put me in the water while it’s stirred, everyone gets there before me.” Excuses… I often give excuses too. “I don’t have enough will power.” “It’s too big to overcome.” “It’s to hard.” “I have no one to help me.”

Did the man want to be made well?  Do I really want to be made well? Or do I want to hang on to my sin? Do I still love my ways so much that I am willing to stay sick in them? Do I still want to do things my way? Or will I allow God to begin a miracle in me?

This is the question that Jesus asks us all, “Do you want to be made well?”  If so you need to respond like the lame man and pick up your mat and walk away from the pool that represents your sin. It’s time to quit waiting for the angel to stir the water. It’s time to let Jesus make a change in you. It’s time for a miracle.

The last instruction Jesus gave to the man was later when he saw him in the temple. Jesus tells the man this “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” It’s a warning. A warning I feel was meant for all of us. If you want to stay well… don’t go back to sin! Stay in the miracle He has made in you and trust Jesus to keep you pointed in the right direction.

I don’t know about you but I have decided to heed the warning. I have decided to sin no more, least a worse thing come upon me. I asked to be made well and Jesus started the process of healing in me. I am pointing myself towards that change. In His strength I will persevere tell I get to the goal.