Do You Want to be Made Well?
We all have areas of our lives where we need help from other people. But we also need help from God if we are to live victoriously in this life. Today I’m going to be talking about one of the miracles Jesus performed when He was on this earth. By studying this miracle, we can learn how God can help us in our lives today to deal with the problems of life.
Sometimes there is too much month at the end of the money. Perhaps there is an unplanned pregnancy with all the emotional and financial pressures that involves. We might be caught up in addiction we just can’t break no matter how hard we try. It could be an addiction to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, pornography, sex, or even our cell phones. Whether our need is physical, emotional, financial or spiritual, Jesus wants to help us. But we also have responsibilities:
- First, we need to really want to be made well.
- Second, we need to really believe that Jesus has the power to make us well.
- Third, we need to obey Jesus and do the things he commands us to do.
In John 5 we read an account of a lame man who Jesus healed.
- After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had some infirmity thirty-eight years.
- 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?” 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.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
- And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. John 5:1-8 (NKJV)
Jesus asked the lame man a probing question: “Do you want to be made well?” Some might think such a question is insulting. “Of course, I want to be made well. Do you think I enjoy my affliction?” The lame man never really answered the question, but immediately started blaming other people. “No one will come to my aid. Every time I try to get in the water, someone steps in ahead of me."
But the question is something we all should consider, especially if the affliction is an addiction. Why do people get addicted to things? Very simply, because they enjoy the feeling they get. In fact, that is just what scientific research tells us. The brain produces a chemical called Dopamine whenever we experience a kind of pleasure. Then the brain also adapts itself; it learns, if I do this or that, it will give me pleasure, so I will do it over and over.
Later when the pleasure wears off, the opposite of pleasure occurs, and pain or depression comes back, and then we want to go right back to the addiction because it gives us pleasure. The cycle just continues so that it becomes a trap we seem unable to escape. So, I ask the question again, do you want to be made well? Or does the momentary pleasure override the emotional pain and financial difficulties that follow?
Some people say, "I can give up anytime I want to." The problem is they don't really want to, so they never do. Others say they want to, but they've tried and failed so many times that they have given up. Still, others have finally come to the place in their lives where they really know they can't do it on their own and they need help. So when Jesus asks the question, "Do you want to be made well?" instead of giving excuses and blaming other people for not helping, you simply say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, I want to be made well." This is the first step to victory.
Then we are ready for the next step which is faith. We must truly believe that God has the power to make us well. Do you believe that with God all things are possible? Jesus once asked a man if he believed that all things are possible with God. The man answered, “Yes Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." Is that you? You believe, but you still have doubts? That is a good place to be. God can help you with your unbelief. Jesus said, “Even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains." It is not a matter of how big our faith is, but how big God is.
So, if we first say we really truly want to get well, and we really believe that God can make us well, then we need to take the third step. We need to do whatever he says we should do. In other words, the three basic elements of success are Attitude, Assurance, and Action.
Jesus told various people to do different things in order to have the power of God to heal them. To this lame man he said stand up, take up your bed and walk. When the lame man believed and obeyed, suddenly the power of God came into his legs, and he was able to walk for the first time in thirty-eight years.
In Mark 3:1-6, we read of a man who had a withered hand. In verse 5, Jesus gave the man a command: “'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other." Jesus asked the man to do something that was impossible. But the man wanted to be made whole, he believed Jesus had the power to heal him, so he obeyed and performed an impossible task. Then as he took action, God healed him.
In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed. Jesus gave them a command. He told them to go show themselves to the priest. This was something they were supposed to do after they were healed, not before! But they had at least a little faith, enough to trust that Jesus knew what he was doing. So they started walking to see the priest, and on the way, they were healed. Now the story ends by telling us that only one came back to thank Jesus. (Today people are often helped by God and only give thanks to the doctors, and sometimes not even to them, but that is another message entirely.)
Not all healing is supernatural, but all healing is miraculous and comes from God. Sometimes God heals by giving doctors, nurses, physical therapists, mental health specialists, etc. wisdom and skill to treat physical and emotional afflictions. God can use social workers, job trainers, financial counselors, and so forth, to help us deal with financial problems. God uses pastors, Christian counselors, or even faithful friends to give us spiritual guidance and support. But in the end, it is God alone who can help us, and he deserves all the glory.
What is God commanding you to do to help heal yourself? Go to a Christian counselor or a pastor? Take job training to help your financial situation? Check into rehab? God still performs miracles. Sometimes they are supernatural. But more often they involve people who help us. Will you avail yourself of the help they offer? I want to make something clear. I am not guaranteeing immediate results. Some kinds of healing, especially the emotional kind, takes time. Sometimes the first steps lead to other steps. Sometimes we don't know exactly what God wants us to do. But we need to take the first step, which is to seek help from other people.
Three questions: “Do you want to be made well? Do you believe God is able to make you well? Are you willing to do what God commands?
This message was adapted from a devotional shared at the Erie City Mission
Image Source: https://www.entrustedtoteach.org/2015/08/14/when-jesus-hangs-out-by-the-pool
But the question is something we all should consider, especially if the affliction is an addiction. Why do people get addicted to things? Very simply, because they enjoy the feeling they get. In fact, that is just what scientific research tells us. The brain produces a chemical called Dopamine whenever we experience a kind of pleasure. Then the brain also adapts itself; it learns, if I do this or that, it will give me pleasure, so I will do it over and over.
Later when the pleasure wears off, the opposite of pleasure occurs, and pain or depression comes back, and then we want to go right back to the addiction because it gives us pleasure. The cycle just continues so that it becomes a trap we seem unable to escape. So, I ask the question again, do you want to be made well? Or does the momentary pleasure override the emotional pain and financial difficulties that follow?
Some people say, "I can give up anytime I want to." The problem is they don't really want to, so they never do. Others say they want to, but they've tried and failed so many times that they have given up. Still, others have finally come to the place in their lives where they really know they can't do it on their own and they need help. So when Jesus asks the question, "Do you want to be made well?" instead of giving excuses and blaming other people for not helping, you simply say, “Yes, Lord Jesus, I want to be made well." This is the first step to victory.
Then we are ready for the next step which is faith. We must truly believe that God has the power to make us well. Do you believe that with God all things are possible? Jesus once asked a man if he believed that all things are possible with God. The man answered, “Yes Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief." Is that you? You believe, but you still have doubts? That is a good place to be. God can help you with your unbelief. Jesus said, “Even faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains." It is not a matter of how big our faith is, but how big God is.
- “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see … And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:1,6
So, if we first say we really truly want to get well, and we really believe that God can make us well, then we need to take the third step. We need to do whatever he says we should do. In other words, the three basic elements of success are Attitude, Assurance, and Action.
Jesus told various people to do different things in order to have the power of God to heal them. To this lame man he said stand up, take up your bed and walk. When the lame man believed and obeyed, suddenly the power of God came into his legs, and he was able to walk for the first time in thirty-eight years.
In Mark 3:1-6, we read of a man who had a withered hand. In verse 5, Jesus gave the man a command: “'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other." Jesus asked the man to do something that was impossible. But the man wanted to be made whole, he believed Jesus had the power to heal him, so he obeyed and performed an impossible task. Then as he took action, God healed him.
In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed. Jesus gave them a command. He told them to go show themselves to the priest. This was something they were supposed to do after they were healed, not before! But they had at least a little faith, enough to trust that Jesus knew what he was doing. So they started walking to see the priest, and on the way, they were healed. Now the story ends by telling us that only one came back to thank Jesus. (Today people are often helped by God and only give thanks to the doctors, and sometimes not even to them, but that is another message entirely.)
Not all healing is supernatural, but all healing is miraculous and comes from God. Sometimes God heals by giving doctors, nurses, physical therapists, mental health specialists, etc. wisdom and skill to treat physical and emotional afflictions. God can use social workers, job trainers, financial counselors, and so forth, to help us deal with financial problems. God uses pastors, Christian counselors, or even faithful friends to give us spiritual guidance and support. But in the end, it is God alone who can help us, and he deserves all the glory.
What is God commanding you to do to help heal yourself? Go to a Christian counselor or a pastor? Take job training to help your financial situation? Check into rehab? God still performs miracles. Sometimes they are supernatural. But more often they involve people who help us. Will you avail yourself of the help they offer? I want to make something clear. I am not guaranteeing immediate results. Some kinds of healing, especially the emotional kind, takes time. Sometimes the first steps lead to other steps. Sometimes we don't know exactly what God wants us to do. But we need to take the first step, which is to seek help from other people.
Three questions: “Do you want to be made well? Do you believe God is able to make you well? Are you willing to do what God commands?
This message was adapted from a devotional shared at the Erie City Mission
Image Source: https://www.entrustedtoteach.org/2015/08/14/when-jesus-hangs-out-by-the-pool
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