True Healing

Do you have a need for healing? Perhaps it’s a physical diagnosis, like the sick man in this passage. Perhaps it’s constant anxiety and drama. Or grief from a loss that you still carry in your heart. Even if you’re not personally in need of deliverance, you probably know someone close to you who is.

As you think about yourself or the person in need, ask yourself this: Do I really want to be well? Do they? Has this condition been hanging around for months, or even decades like a familiar cloak? Is there some reason that I am resisting becoming well?

When I observe or meet people who are always asking for prayer but never see results, it makes me wonder if they feel more comfortable in their misery or want sympathy and attention that getting well wouldn’t allow.

Such was not the case with the man who sat near the pool at Bethesda day after day, year after year. He waited for help while others took their turn. Scripture tells us that once Jesus commanded him to walk he did just that without any hesitation and was healed instantly. I can only imagine how many people were also touched by his testimony of healing.

Wouldn’t it be a blessing if we all trusted God, the ultimate physician and counselor, with our lives? Wouldn’t we be blessed by watching others surrender their pain without reluctance? Like the man by the pool, we just must be willing and obedient, as He lifts us out of our pit.

Lord Jesus, forgive me if I’ve been resistant to your loving hand of healing. Help me and help others to be like the willing man at the pool who answered you and was delivered. I know that it is your plan for me to be well in body, mind and spirit. Amen.

Go Deeper ― Think about areas or issues of your life that are still not well. Ask the Lord to give you new revelation about what’s holding you back, and then surrender it completely, asking Him to touch you with His true, lasting healing.