Access the Healer
John 5:5-9:
One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your bedroll and walk!” Instantly the man got well, picked up his bedroll, and started to walk.
The paralyzed man’s faith for his healing was in the magic of the angel-stirred water of the pool at Bethesda. The first person in the pool after the stirring received the healing. Because of his limitation he could not get to the waters in time by himself. He had no access to that which he thought would heal him, thus he was a victim of circumstances. No one would give him a chance to be first, so he waited for 38 years to be healed by a means he could not access.
Things changed for this man when he encountered Jesus. Jesus met the man where he was – paralyzed and lying on his mat, waiting for a miracle to happen in a certain way. Jesus simply asked him if he wanted to be healed. While the man gave an excuse, Jesus gave a command. “Get up, pick up your bedroll, and walk!”
The man’s healing was not in the pool but in Jesus. Our healing – restoration – is in Jesus, as well. He meets us right where we are – broken and paralyzed, waiting for a miracle. Our miracle, however, is in Him alone. Our healing will come when we encounter the living Christ and place our faith in Him when others fail us.
Don’t worry about that which you cannot access. You have direct access to Jesus through prayer, and your healing is in Him. He has given us His word, which speaks to us daily if we will only read it. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be given to us. How can you pick up your bedroll and walk today? Your healing awaits you.
Have a blessed day!