Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” – John 5:3-6

It’s been strange lately how many times God has directed me to the book of John even as that is where I am in my own Bible study. Yesterday my pastor, Jeff Parker, spoke on this same subject in church, mentioning that archaeologists have found the Pool of Bethesda.

Also, I’ve written about this interaction before, that sometimes we read this as a judgmental, “Do you even WANT to get well?” instead of the heart’s invitation that it is: An excited, gentle whisper… “Hey, do you want to get WELL?”

Today, let’s talk about how so many of us are lying by the pool, waiting for the water to stir so we can get all our problems fixed.

Is that you? I know it has been me so many times in my life and I’m sure it will be again. When things seem too big for us, or like they’re miserable and they’ll never end, we tend to fall back on the idea that someone bigger than us or something outside our control will eventually fix that problem.

Maybe we hide our eyes and hope it goes away. Maybe we think our spouse or our boss or our pastor or a kind stranger will fix it. Maybe we just don’t know what to do, so we lie there waiting on any hint of a miracle, hoping this is our time.

Sometimes that’s all you can do… for a while. If you find yourself lying next to the pool, waiting on God to stir the water, it’s okay for a while. Gather your strength. Take that time to lick your wounds, to take a nap, to fall silent or whatever you need to do to breathe for a second.

But then remember He told us to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. It may seem like the energy isn’t there. It may seem like everything that seems promising falls through. Maybe you’re tired of feeling like the good things always happen to someone else, and you’re bound to be crippled all your life.

He promised us in Psalm 27:13 that we will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. That healing may not come the way you thought: Instead of falling into a pool to find wholeness after 38 years, God Himself might come find you.

Jesus hasn’t forgotten that you’re sitting by the pool. Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and take heart, and wait for the Lord. – Psalm 27:14 ❤️