Do You Want to Be Made Well?

Our eyes are valuable because they enable us to see.  During our waking moments we are almost entirely dependent upon them.  It it difficult for someone who can see to even fathom living without the blessing of sight.  Yet there are limitations even to a set of eyes with perfect vision.  We cannot see through thick fog or solid objects.  Our range of vision is limited by distance and the direction we currently face.  No one actually has functioning eyes on the back of their heads, though some people can make you wonder by their uncanny ability of perception!

Man is constantly stretching the boundaries of what he can do and accomplish.  But there will always be a boundary.  The time for a human being running 100 meters will never be 0.00.  Because of the things we can see and do we sometimes forget there is more to the picture.  From our limited perspective, we create expectations of what needs to happen in our lives.  As Christians, we often pray according to what we can see.  We pray according to sight, not by faith.  We observe what appears to be a huge problem and tell God how we think He should handle things.  And when He doesn't operate in the way we expect we can become bitter and disillusioned, wondering if God hears our prayers or actually loves us at all.  From time to time God will pull back the veil on things that happened years ago and we see clearly what He was doing we didn't perceive then:  He was with us and acting for our good the whole time.

In John chapter 5, a passage talks about a man who suffered from a debilitating infirmity for 38 years.  It was no doubt a source of great struggle and difficulty.  He lay by a pool called Bethesda, waiting for the moving of the water.  John writes that from time to time an angel would stir the water and whoever stepped in first would be healed from whatever infirmity they suffered.  Jesus visited this man.  John 5:6-8 reads, "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" ⁷ The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." ⁸ Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  Jesus asked the sick man if he wanted to be made well.  Instead of answering the question, the man pointed out that being healed seemed impossible since he had no one to help him be the first in the water.  He had figured out what he thought to be his best and possibly only chance for healing.  Unless he had a man to put him in the water, he was doomed.

Jesus asks you the question:  "Do you want to be made well?"  How do you answer?  Do you tell God what needs to happen before you can be healed?  For 38 years or more you may have suffered from your condition, and you are still waiting for God to acquiesce to your plan.  It is time to stop pointing to the obstacles, blaming others, or yourself.  If it time to look to Jesus and say, "Yes.  I want to be healed and I know you can do it.  I give you freedom to ask or do anything you wish because I trust you."  How silly it was for the man to be lamenting he did not have a man when the God-Man Jesus Christ stood before him with the power and willingness to heal!  The Saviour stands before you today, knocking at the door, and calling out your name.  He may not act in the way you expect, but expect Him to act!