Sooo yes, John 5! Jesus is over here, as smooth as He is, busy about His Father’s business and He encounters a sick man at the pool of Bethesda. This particular pool was surrounded by all kinds of sick and disabled people because it was known that at this place an angel from the Lord would come and stir up the waters and if you were lucky enough to jump into the pool when that happened, you would come out healed of whatever ailed you. This guy that Jesus meets has been lying by this pool for 38 years, my guess is that he was not so lucky. So Jesus starts talking with this guy
JESUS: “Yo, do you really want to be healed?” (my personal translation, lol)
One thing I’m learning about God is that He is very specific so when you come to Him in prayer don’t try to be cute and beat around the bush, just tell Him what you need
So this guy, instead of giving Jesus a straightforward answer, he starts whining. Imagine the most annoying voice you have ever hear and attribute it to his response
GUY: “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.” (V. 7)
Boo-hoo! Jesus didn’t ask him all that, He knows that…this guy was looking for pity and pity was not about to get him healed. But isn’t that what we do sometimes or maybe what I do?
GOD: “What do you want me to do for you, beloved”
ME: (Sniffling) “Abba, you know my situation, I don’t know what to do with this fundraising thing and I have a lot going on and then this happened and blah blah blah…”
By the time I finally get to answering God’s question, somebody would have already jumped into the pool and received their miracle! Whaat?!?
That’s why Jesus’ response to this guys was rough. He wasn’t having it
JESUS: Get up! pick up your bed and walk!
At least after 38 good years lying by that pool he could have wiggled himself little by little and ended up in that pool as opposed to waiting for somebody to have pity on him. Jesus response to people He healed was always something like “Your faith has made you whole” but in this case there was no faith for Jesus to get into agreement with because this man was basically just looking for pity and he would have remained there for another 38 years whining and complaining about how no one wants to help him. Boo hoo! He may not have been able to move his whole body but he could have wiggled!
And that’s what God is saying to me. I may not have this and that, I may have more challenges than advantages but I do have something so let me make the best of that something, that resource, talent, ability that He has given me. God always gives us something, it may be very ordinary it may not look like much but He will use that very thing to solve whatever your problem. Our part is the ORDINARY, He is the one that makes it EXTRA, that’s His part.
- The ORDINARY was having five loaves of bread and two fishes, the EXTRA came from God multiplying it.
- Moses had a staff, ORDINARY, God used that ORDINARY staff and caused Moses to do EXTRAORDINARY things by it.
- David had a sling and 5 stones, ORDINARY, but God used this as the weapon to cause the EXTRAORDINARY defeat of Goliath
- I am just a woman desiring to follow the will of God in her life, pretty ORDINARY, but me + God = EXTRAORDINARY
Whatever you got, talent, gift, ability, connections…surrender it to God and make the best of it, He will come through with the rest… the EXTRA part
So just keep on wigglin’ 🙂
PS: Thank you so much for your continued financial donations and prayer support, let’s get this $350 to multiply! I can’t do it without y’all, it takes a village! Much Love
