It's All There for the Taking

I was reading John 5 last night, and the passage that really spoke to me was the beginning of the chapter where Jesus heals the man by the pool. For the full story read John 5: 1-14, basically there is a man who is paralyzed and lies by the pool hoping to get healed (he’s been sick for 38 years so I guess it’s not working out). Anyway, Jesus walks up to him and asks if he wants to get healed, but look at the reply: “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool…” Jesus asked a yes or no question, and this man gave an excuse of sorts. I love what happens next, Jesus outright commands the man to get up, and he is instantly healed. Often we try to go with what is the norm. Something that has been established in society as a solution to a problem can seem pretty enticing, even if it never works out the way we want it to. This man had sat by a pool for 38 years! I’m 18 and already that seems like a long time. The most amazing part is that he still stuck to his solution, when Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed he didn’t say “Yes can you help me?” He said that no one would help him into the pool; he didn’t get it that maybe the pool wouldn’t work for him, maybe it wasn’t the solution to his problem. When we get stuck in a tough spot it can be easy to want to do what everyone else is doing, to follow the rules laid down by the world. But that isn’t always what God wants of us, sometimes instead of working out a flawed solution for ourselves we need to listen to God and do what he tells us. It took 38 years for the man to try to get healed but never actually be freed from his illness and a few seconds to actually be healed by Got; which do you think works out better? Sometimes I like to go my own way (like the Fleetwood Mac song), but it doesn’t really work out the way I want it to. That’s why we need God and we need to accept His guidance and strength so that we may overcome the obstacles in our way.