"Do you want to be healed?"

A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine shared about something she learned at a conference. Unbeknownst to her, the Lord was working on my heart and that is exactly what I needed to hear. I honestly don't remember all the details, but the Lord was using the text from the Gospel of John chapter 5 verses 2-9:

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

A story of a man being healed after thirty-eight years! Woah! The speaker had focused on how Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed. Well, duh! That's why he has been sitting and waiting for thirty-eight years, right?! Of course, Jesus knew the man's thoughts and desires even before walking up to him.

But how often are we so close to healing and yet, not healed. It's something that isn't in our control necessarily. Ultimately, God is in control and His timing is perfect. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" 1 Corinthians 12:3.

The ultimate healing comes when we acknowledge that God created us in His image and that when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, God's presence did not dwell with man any longer. People and God were separated. A huge gulf existed between the Creator and the created. This is the greatest problem of all! That is why God had to send His Son to bridge the gap between us and Himself. The bridge cost Him His life, but He rose victoriously and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Someone had to come. Someone had to die the death we deserved so that we could live. Someone had to tell us to take up our bed, and walk in faith. His name is Jesus. He made the way for us to know God. Ephesians 2:8-10 says: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

When we choose to take the step of faith and believe that Jesus died to save us from eternal separation from God, all of our sins are wiped away - past, present, and future. We are made new. We can live in freedom because of what Christ has done for us! Can I get an Amen! Thank you, Jesus!

Even though I have a new identity in Jesus, there are times when I get stuck in my circumstances, in my mistakes. I beat myself up, I doubt, I ask questions, I try to plan my future. These things aren't necessarily bad. I think it is healthy to ask questions, have doubts, make plans, and feel sorry for doing something wrong, but it's the staying stuck part and not yielding those things to the authority of an Almighty God who has already done so much and will most definitely continue to work in and through us, that's wrong. The Bible calls us to walk in victory. We have nothing to fear because His perfect love casts out fear. We don't have to be anxious about anything, because God will give us peace when we share those things with Him.

As I have reflected on this passage and seen it's themes run through other areas of Scripture that I'm reading, I can't help but see that my circumstances are nothing in the light of what Jesus has done! I've walked through the valley of the shadow of the death of my mom and I've felt stuck. There hasn't been anything as worse as this in my life thus far, and it hurts to a degree that I didn't think was possible. It's also so dynamic and long-term. Jesus is teaching me how to walk while carrying it. Amongst that, there is also the uncertainty of this stage of my life. What's next? I do not know. I have a million passions and desires and don't have an end plan. I'm walking one step at a time. God shining the light so that all I can see is the next step. I have to trust Him, that this crazy path I'm on is leading me to a things that are for my good and for His glory! And I trust Him because He's never failed and He won't start now.

So when Jesus asks, "Do you want to be healed?", my answer is yes. And it's a process. It involves sweat and tears and mistakes. But it's also covered by love and grace and truth. It's by the power of Jesus that we can walk through suffering and still experience joy. He is the source of our hope. He is the anchor for our souls. Even when the storms rage, we are anchored. We may sway to and fro and feel like we are going to fly overboard, but He holds us secure. We are His and He is ours.

What has you stuck? What are you waiting for? If you haven't taken the step of faith to trust Jesus, what's holding you back? How can you walk as a new creation? How are you called to walk in the light? How can you trust God today? Wrestle with God. Ponder the yearnings of your heart. Seek what He would have for you in this season of life and take up your mat and walk.

I pray that you are encouraged and pushed to lean into God's promises which are always true and never changing.

With joy,
Jess <3