The question at the pool
While reading the Bible, I came across a question that changed my outlook on life. In John 5, Jesus walks up to a man lying by a pool and asks him something.
"When Jesus saw him lying there and realized that he had spent a long time in this condition, He asked him, 'Do you want to get well?'" John 5:6
Now this is a man who has struggled with his condition for years. Unable to walk. Specifically, 38 years. This man isn't just anywhere either. He's by the pool of Bethesda, where people believed an angel would stir up the water, and the first person to get in at that moment would be healed. So the man's intention is to get in that pool and be healed. Yet Jesus still asks him if he wants to get well.
The man's response in verse 7 even reveals his intentions for being at this pool.
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me." John 5:7
What happens next is just a miracle.
Then Jesus told him, "Get up, pick up your mat, and walk." John 5:8
Then immediately the man was healed and walking.
Why ask?
This story is so powerful because of the question from Jesus and the response from the man. Jesus knows He can heal all sicknesses, wounds, ailments, diseases and more. Jesus sees the man at the pool of Bethesda, a place known for healing people. But Jesus still asks him if he wants to get well.
Without a firm yes, or a shout of excitement, the man explained his intent and his struggle. This man didn't know who Jesus was or what He could do. But his response did show that he wanted to be healed. Jesus just showed him that he could be healed in a different way. Sometimes it even makes me think about how all we need to do is tell Jesus our intent and our struggle.
My mouth said one thing
However, over time I started to realize the only person holding me back from that miracle was myself. I would confess with my mouth: I want to be healed. I want to be different. I want to change. Yet my actions would be completely different.
A man who couldn't walk, yet somehow he is at the pool of Bethesda. He wasn't born there. Yet somehow he was there. That man wanted to be healed. Probably more than anything. He found a way from wherever he was to get to that pool. His intentions for being there were clear. Yet Jesus still asked him that question. Not for a firm yes, but to see how badly he really wanted it. He'd been trying by himself, and others went in before him every time. A man who can't walk, trying to get himself into that pool for who knows how long. But with one interaction with Jesus, he is healed.
If I were to put myself in that man's shoes, I probably wouldn't be at that pool. I can't even begin to tell you what I would be doing. But if that man didn't make efforts to be healed, who knows if that encounter would've happened. This is where action comes into play. Where my mouth confesses one thing and my actions say another.
You vs you
But then there was a time when my actions started changing. My intent started changing. But every single time my actions didn't match my words, I was holding myself back. From the person I wanted to become, or the goals I could've achieved.
However, when I look back, the times I failed and struggled became the most important times of my life. Because they put me through the process. They put me through the fire, to be like gold on the other side.
Jesus is ready to heal, set free, and deliver. But are you going back to old ways? Jesus healed that man, and later He found him at the temple and told him to stop sinning. That man went through the process, and Jesus healed that man when he was ready. When he wouldn't go back to old ways. When he wouldn't lose the things Jesus blessed him with.
The biggest battle really is you vs you. Don't hold yourself back, and don't ever let past sin guilt you into thinking you're not good enough or worthy.
