Over the past 6 years, people have been subjected to my life’s vast experiences when they come to one of my speaking engagements, talk directly to me, or read what I write. I have always been transparent with everything from my health issues to a lost marriage, family, friends, job, and ministry. I have been down at the crossroads and I have had to make so many changes, choices and decisions that have been painful - but for the best. I lost everything in my life! Yet, I praise God because He was able to use my loss to move me to the place I needed to be in. On November 7, 2011, God set me on a comeback trail of being made complete, whole, and well. In John 5:1-10 there is an amazing story. As I read it while sitting on my floor in my living room, a radical transformation took place in me. The story is of a man who I have affectionately called “Withered Willard.” His story is goes like this:
“Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, ‘Do you want to get well?’ The sick man said, ‘Sir, when the water is stirred, I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.’ The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off. That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, ‘It's the Sabbath. You can't carry your bedroll around. It's against the rules.’” John 5:1-10 MSG
DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL? Uh, yeah!!! What a stupid question. What do you think? I have been here waiting for 38 years of my life. I am a broken mangled mess, and every time the angel stirs the water I don’t have time to get down to the pool before someone else gets in. Look dude, I don’t have anybody to help me down to the water. So what do you think? Duh, of course I want to be made well.
I write this with some harshness and humor because I can see Withered Willard wanting to answer Jesus in this strong manner, or maybe it is just me and my response to these verses as the cry of my own heart. Trust me, I have read theses verses over and over, and cried out “I WANT TO BE MADE WELL! I WANT TO LIVE, I WANT TO LIVE!” You betcha! I can identify to Willard living with his issue for 38 years. After all, I too was about to be 38 in a few months after reading this in 2012. I know, trust me, this has been a process and hit me hard. It still hits me. But I am living proof of the process of wanting to be made well and whole and, like Willard, I too have been restored by Jesus.
My Thot: is you and I don’t have to suffer 38 years. We need to be open and respond to Jesus’ question with “Yes, I want to be made well! I want to live. I want a good life. I want to be healthy. I want to be a productive member of society. I want to serve You, God, to the fullest. You betcha.” Then we need to realize that we don’t need to wait for any person - because He is that person, He is that Man, that God-Man who we need.
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