After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity 38 years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, "Wilt thou be made whole?"
The impotent man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me."
Jesus saith unto him, "Rise, take thy bed and walk."
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked.
Have you ever felt you were so close to turning a corner, yet just couldn't seem to get over the proverbial hump? Have you ever been so close to success, yet been unable to achieve it? Have you ever tried your hardest and still felt like a failure? Can you imagine what this poor guy was going through?
The impotent man of John 5 had a disease of 38 years which severely limited his mobility. Who knows how long he had been beside the pool at Bethesda. But here you have this man, and he knows all he has to do is get into that water first after the water begins to be troubled. He is just inches away from being made whole, yet it never happens. Someone always steps in ahead of him. This went on for a long time. I can only imagine the frustration this man must have felt.
We can often feel the same type of frustration. No matter how hard we try, there is discord in our marriages. No matter how hard we try, we never make the bosses happy. No matter how hard we try, we don't get the promotion. No matter how hard we try, our churches don't grow, despite our evangelistic efforts, our reaching out to our visitors, and our following of the advice of the church growth experts. It seems the moment you are about to experience a breakthrough, nothing happens. You've been bypassed, and relief goes to the one down the road.
This man's story could have ended right there beside the pool of Bethesda, and the Jewish people were cold enough to let him die there. But, thank God, Jesus showed up. Jesus invited this man to rise, take his bed and walk. The man could have said, "yeah, whatever... tried it... didn't work." He didn't. Scripture records he rose, took his bed and walked. He had faith. The funny thing is, he didn't even know Who he had faith in until later!
When you are inches away from freedom, yet you can't get across the line, remember Jesus. Look to Jesus. Trust Jesus. I'm telling you from personal experience that when you look to Jesus, He has a way of illuminating your hurdle and teaching you how to overcome it. And, if He decided to leave that hurdle in your path... just remember what God told Paul..."My grace is sufficient for you." God has done so much for us through Salvation and blessing us from day to day. We are blessed, and really need no further blessing.
When you look to Jesus, He might move that obstacle out of your way, or He might be using it to teach you "how to be content in whatsoever state you are in."
Don't give up! Don't lose hope! Keep pushing forward and trusting the Lord.
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